Spider Thread
by blackcatgirl
Summary: I was never afraid of dying. I lived my life to the fullest and expected it to be cut short, all because of my dangerous profession. I expected to die young. I expected hell. What I did not expect was for this shit to happen. OC-insert. Because the plot bunnies have laid siege to my brain.
1. It was a wonderful life

Welcome to the first chapter of 'Spider Thread.' This is an OC insert fic, but not a self-insert. It will quickly diverge from canon, as I have every intention of seeing how much I can mess with the story. I will assume you've read up to volumes 64-65 and/or are aware of the events that unfold in them. I am personally up to date with the manga, but those who haven't read that far should proceed with caution, as there might be major spoilers.

I do not own Naruto, nor am I making a profit off of my writing. This is a fan-made work.

Now that we've gotten the boring stuff out of the way, on we go!

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I was never afraid of dying. In my line of work, if death scared you, you wouldn't last very long. Nor was I afraid of what would happen after; I knew, if there was a God (which I believed), that I was going to hell. It didn't matter much to me.

I chose this profession at a fairly young age, mostly because I happened to be good at it. When I was in pre-med, I discovered that I had a knack for poisons and chemicals, for synthetizing them, using them, and curing them. Reading books on various types and how to make them became a sort of 'hobby,' and I got to use the chemistry lab to have fun creating them. My grades in chemistry and biology were at the top, and I graduated early. Medical school wasn't for me, though. I dropped out in my second year.

I can't say for sure how I started doing what I do. I wandered a bit from job to job for a while; mostly pharmaceutical and chemical engineering companies. The pay was decent, and I was able to continue with my 'hobby,' saving up quite a bit, and getting dangerously good at it. I can't remember what my first 'assignment' was. Probably something innocuous . . . maybe it was a favor for a friend whose girlfriend had cheated on him. Yeah, that must be it.

At any rate, it sort of snowballed from there. Before I knew it, I was deep in the underworld and having a blast.

I was, to put it bluntly, an assassin. I got contracts from men and women high in power, who wanted somebody disposed of, incapacitated, or otherwise out of the way, and it was not in their best interest to make it generally known that there had been an attempt on their life. With the right poison and the right dose, I could either give the target a nasty stomachache, or have them dead under a minute, frothing at the mouth. There were so many ways to go about it, via ingestion, by breathing it, by wounds; so many different effects, sleep, laughter, itching, numbness, paralysation, hallucinations, death . . . I preferred poison over the more obvious methods. Gunning someone down was so crude, and using knives too slow; both had limited use. Sure, if you want to kill someone, blowing their brains out was the way to go, but beyond that a gun was about as useful as a brick. Poison was versatile, just as deadly, so discrete, the perfect assassination tool.

Believe me, I was _very_ good at my job. What about the moral side of it, you may ask? Well, I never really cared. I was raised in a Christian household. I believed in God. I knew what I was doing was 'wrong,' but I didn't give a damn. Some of my friends speculated that because I literally didn't have my heart in the right place, my morals were also reversed. I'd been born with Dextrocardia situs inversus ; my heart was on the right side of my chest. Make of that what you will.

I traveled all around the world, working for leaders, gang bosses, businessmen, weapon's dealers; I snuck into secret bases, infiltrated palaces, drank champagne with the wealthiest men, laughed wickedly with the manipulative women that stood on their own in the dark, and ran around gathering the best ingredients I could find to advance my 'hobby.' I studied in all four corners of the world, learning about poisonous plants, snake, frog and salamander venom, the science of synthetizing lethal compounds, how to mix chemicals to create any effect I chose . . .

I made a lot of money and indulged myself as much as I wanted. Moderation wasn't in my vocabulary. I went on shopping sprees, often leaving it all behind when I had to hightail out of the country on short notice and doing it all over again at the next location, ate as much as I wanted, trained my body to make up the difference, and went through my life with a boundless, reckless energy. I was young, less than thirty, and full of the belief that I was at the top of the world.

I used to have something that fascinated me almost as much as poisons. I discovered it when I was doing a job in Japan. There was a particular television show, what they called 'anime,' that caught my interest and held it. 'Naruto,' was the name. I caught an episode on the TV at my apartment, and ordered the entire series out of curiosity. I marathoned it all the way through, nearly forgetting about the politician I was supposed to send to the hospital, and when I was done, I read the manga. I took a quick break to do the job, but was so hyped up I missed the critical dosage and ended up killing the guy. My client was not happy. Needless to say, I skipped out of there pretty fast. Once I got the chance, I read up on everything I could get my hands on. I was hooked.

Not that it lasted long. I quickly moved onto something else. As one of my temporary passions, I only mention it because it seems to be relevant.

To return to my earlier statement, I was not afraid of dying. I wanted to live fast, have a blast, enjoy myself, and go out laughing whenever God struck me down. I knew I was going to hell. Heck, I thought it might be fun. I could take over. I was drunk on power, and made no excuses for it.

I expected to die young. However, I did _not_ expect this shit.

I was getting out of the shower, in a hotel suite (my lodgings weren't quite ready yet), when the door was blasted in. I heard the roar of gunfire, felt the tearing pain of hot pieces of metal in my body, and before I knew it, it was over. I lay, naked, bleeding, dying, and smiling. My long black hair spread out around me like bloody spider threads, my body trembled slightly in a mix of pain and excitement. This was the end. This was how I expected to go out, no, _wanted_ to go out. In a lavish hotel, on expensive carpet, surrounded by nothing but beautiful clothes and piles of empty baubles, staring outside at the incredibly beautiful city lights; young, fit, at the top of the world.

I let out a weak laugh. "This is what it comes down to. Yeah, this is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Here we go . . ."

My vision blurred, my smile widened into a grin, and I closed my eyes. My body got very cold, and the pain faded away. I slipped into darkness.

I did _not_ expect what happened next.

The sensations changed. Warmth, with the feeling of being squeezed in all directions, followed by deep cold, all over me. I was slippery wet, I squirmed, I felt like I was drowning and took a deep breath, sending burning pain into my chest. Huge hands wrapped around me. I tried to move, but my body wouldn't obey me. I felt small, clumsy, weak. I opened my eyes and screamed as I saw the giants that were holding me, their figures outlined in the harsh light. I thrashed, but I was so tired, so weak, I couldn't even hold my head up. I was passed, washed, wrapped in a blanket, and handed off to a woman. She rocked me from side to side, and despite my bewilderment, I felt sleep come over me. I tried to fight it. This was no time to be snoozing. Come on, girl, you can do it! Just stay awake! Come on!

Yeah, I failed.

For a while, things stopped making a lot of sense. There was a clear cycle. I slept most of the time, and during the short periods I was awake, would fight vainly to move. My muscles were just so weak, I couldn't even control my normal bodily functions, and had to be changed. God, this was so embarrassing. The giants did everything for me-fed me, cleaned me, put me to sleep. There were two of them, as far as I could tell, both women.

At first, I was sleeping too much to be able to think very well. Slowly, the intervals of time in which I was conscious increased, and I was able to rotate my mind back to figuring out what the hell was going on. This wasn't hell, or if it was, the devil had seriously let himself go. I was never in any pain. This was definitely odd . . . When I realized my situation, I gave a loud wail that made the women rush into the room. One of them picked me up, trying to calm me down, looking rather worried. I fussed and yelled, and I had damn good reason to.

I was a _kid_. A _baby_. What the _hell_ kind of sick joke was this?

I know I hadn't exactly been the height of morality when I was alive, but this was just too much. God was a goddamn _jerk_.

After I calmed down, and was put back in my crib, I observed my surroundings. The room was small, painted white, with a dresser in the corner, but otherwise bare. The woman, who stared down at me fondly, her hands cupping her face as she leaned over, must be my mother. Her eyes were light blue, sparkling, so happy as she looked over me. She talked a bit in a language I didn't understand. At first, I chalked it up to my brain being underdeveloped, but then I suddenly recognized it.

Why was she speaking Japanese?

I only knew a couple of scattered fragments, from that one job in Japan, so I understood a little bit. That didn't help me much.

I kept staring at her while she talked, unwavering. I was _not _happy. I unconsciously started to fuss, and she reached down and ran her hand over my head. She smiled, and my heart skipped a beat. Christ, she really loved me, didn't she? I went back to sleep before I could think any more.

Over time, I continued to observe her, mostly for lack of anything else to do. She was rather pretty. Her long hair was an obnoxious shade of fire-engine red. That was not usual for a Japanese person, which she must be, going by the language and by the green kimono she wore. She came into the room to take care of me, and would spend several hours each day speaking to me and cuddling me. I started to pick up some more of the language, helped by my faint recollection of the classes I had taken in order to complete my assignment. I was familiar with the basic grammatical structure, at least.

The woman, who called herself Okaa-san, had a helper, the second woman. That one came only when Okaa-san couldn't, and I didn't like her very much. She was a fat gray haired nurse in a plain kimono. Her brown eyes were very dismissive, and she handled me the least amount possible. I always stared at her with unwavering eyes, making her uncomfortable, because that was realistically the only thing I could do. Seriously, how humiliating was this? I, an assassin, a professional of infiltration, the greatest poison and chemical expert money could buy, was stuck taking shit from an ugly broad with callused hands. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even bite, because I didn't have any teeth yet. God, I hope the teeth come quickly.

No, wait, I didn't mean it. Teething _hurt_.

I was able to move around some more now. I could crawl, though not very far. I wasn't let out of my crib at all. I moved as much as possible, rolling, stretching, flapping, testing my new body, and finding it to be just awful. I had been very fit in my precious life, and I'd gotten used to a certain degree of freedom. Now, not only had I no strength to speak of, but I got tired extremely quickly. My knowledge of the language was growing, exceedingly slowly, but I could catch more words, though I had yet to utter my first one. I still didn't know what name had been given to me, and it annoyed me somewhat. Apart from Okaa-san and the nurse, nobody else came.

One day, while I was trying to hoist myself up over the edge of my crib and make a break for it, Okaa-san came into the room, dressed in a brown kimono with a heavy cloak covering her. She picked me up and wrapped me in a thick blanket, holding me close to her chest as she rushed out of the room. I caught a glimpse of a dirty hallway, lined with a lot more doors, before Okaa-san sped downstairs and into the lobby, where the fat nurse was waiting. She led Okaa-san out the door, where a cart was waiting. She climbed into the back, whispering soothing words to me, smoothing my short hair back. The nurse came out, carrying several packages, which she hoisted onto the cart next to us. She mumbled something to Okaa-san, who turned a bit pale and nodded. I understood what they said next.

"Thank you, Yui-san. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Tomoko-sama. Please be careful."

She dipped her head to us as the cart took off. Okaa-san wrapped us both in the folds of her cloak, warding off the night chill. I looked up at her pale face, and saw tears in her eyes. She stroked my head slowly, and whispered something. I watched the town as we sped away. Wait, where were we going? What the heck was going on? Oy, Okaa-san, tell me! Okay, so I can't understand you, but could you at least mention something about it? Even a word would be more helpful than this.

It was no good. I eventually fell asleep, rocked by the motion of the cart and by the soft lullaby Okaa-san crooned into my ear.

I was half awake when the cart stopped. The town we arrived in was much bigger, and I sleepily caught sight of a one story house with a front gate and a stone pathway leading up to the sliding door. Overall, rather rundown and drab. The man driving the cart came down and unloaded the packages. Okaa-san put me down on a folded blanket, and I slipped back into sleep before I knew it.

We started living in that house, Tomoko and I. It was small, with one bedroom, a kitchen and living/dining room all in one, and a little bathroom. While not the height of extravagance I was used to, she kept it clean and smelling fresh. We slept in the same futon, and for the first time, I was allowed to roam as I wanted. The feeling was odd, after many months of rolling around the square meter of space allotted to me.

I learned how to speak a couple of mangled words, as my vocal cords weren't used to working, and the language was unfamiliar; my first word was, rather predictably, a massacred rendition of 'Okaa-san;' it made her ecstatic. I finally started to walk, though not well, and fell frequently, flat on my face. When that happened, Tomoko would rush over to pick me up and set me back on my feet, dusting me off and checking me for injuries. I never cried. Who did she think I was? If I was going to cry, it would be out of frustration. I wanted this body to grow up faster. Well, she stopped worrying so much after a while. She was a new mom, so I guess it couldn't be helped if she was a little fussy at first.

So I practiced walking and talking, though I could only stumble around like a drunken person and babble half-coherent sentences. I estimated I had been about a year old when we'd moved.

Finally, Tomoko spoke my name. It was like she had avoided it when we were back at the old place, with the fat nurse. Back then, come to think of it, the atmosphere had been a bit . . . odd. Very little noise, and the two sure got anxious whenever I fussed (which wasn't very often-I had my pride).

"Tomoe." said Tomoko, lifting me up onto her lap and smoothing my hair back, a gesture she loved to do. "That's you. Tomoe. Can you say that?"

"To-mo-e." I mumbled, enunciating each syllable as clearly as I could. Her face lit up.

"Yes, that's right. You're a good girl, Tomoe."

Tomoko took care of me all by herself, often reading to me from picture books or playing games with me, such as silly dexterity games using small bean filled bags. She could juggle, which I had to admit was impressive. I lacked the coordination to do much but toss and catch them. She showed me how to do origami, and sew, and overall made sure I had plenty to do despite rarely leaving the house. She went shopping once a week, never taking very long; our diet was very simple, tofu, vegetables, sometimes fish. We weren't rich, and she wasn't working, so I guess this was all she could afford. This was evident in our clothing, too. She always wore the same kimono, and I only had one yukata over a white under kimono. It was dark blue with a pattern of lighter commas on the bottom, with a brown sash, and was rather too big for me. But that was the point. Judging by the very light meals we had in the months following, this was quite a splurge.

Tomoko tried hard, I had to give her that. Especially since my father was nowhere in sight, and she seemed very reluctant to mingle with the other townspeople. She could have asked a neighbor to babysit, and take more time to shop, or maybe get a job, but she never did. She took care of everything herself. I thought she did very well, given the circumstances.

I was never let out farther than the front yard. Mostly I ran around, trying to get used to my body, playing with a bouncy rubber ball. The street was usually empty, the houses around us boarded up despite the signs of life. I once saw a boy about my age in the yard across the road, and waved, but his mother quickly pulled him back inside.

Life was radically different than my previous one. Whatever world I had fallen into, it was desperately behind the times. Very little technology, certainly no internet, mercifully electric lighting and indoor plumbing. No junk food. No shopping malls. No luxury goods. None, nothing, all the indulgences of my life as a high in demand assassin were gone. This was worse than hell. Or so I thought for the first several months after I became aware of my situation, giving rise to some childish temper tantrums. Then, I started getting used to it, and tolerated it, though with some discomfort. To go from my decadent living conditions to this, on top of being stuck in the body of a kid, riled me up to no end. I wanted to move, dammit, I wanted to run and jump, and swim, and not get so damn tired.

We had no mirrors, but I managed to catch my reflection in a puddle one day. I eagerly examined my new features. I was dismayed to see that I had inherited my mother's hair. Obnoxious fire-engine red, it was awful. It was down to my shoulders now . . . maybe I could dye it? My face was passable in the looks department, more cute than beautiful, with dimpled cheeks and large black eyes. Another thing to annoy me. I was _not_ cute. While I hadn't been strikingly beautiful, I'd still cleaned up nice. I had to remind myself that I wasn't even three yet, that these things had time to evolve, and to bear with it.

I now understood most of what Tomoko was saying . . . not that I could say much in return. My sentences were still only a handful of words long, but my mastery grew every day. Since I picked it up pretty fast, and because I insisted, Tomoko began to teach me how to read. It was simple at first (I knew most of the Hiragana alphabet already), but got more complicated when she introduced kanji. For starters, she wrote my name on the piece of chalkboard (we couldn't afford paper).

"This is 'Tomoe.' It means a large comma." She tapped the symbol, 巴.

"This?" I picked at my yukata.

"Yes. That's it. Can you try writing it?"

I licked my lip and carefully traced the symbol. It came out quite nice, if I may say so myself. I nodded in satisfaction. Tomoko took the chalk from me and drew two more, which I didn't recognize. 火 and 村.

"These are the kanji for 'fire' and 'village.' That's our last name, Himura. Remember, alright? Your name is Himura Tomoe. No matter who tries to take it away from you, that will always be who you are." Her arms tightened around me, and her hand threaded through my hair, softly combing. "Himura, Tomoe . . ."

She sounded wistful as she drifted into silence. I stared down at the board, and committed the symbols to memory. That would be my name from now on, and I had no intention of letting it go.

And the lessons went on. I advanced quickly, and it helped with my knowledge of the language. When I was around three and a half years old, I could speak in coherent sentences, had been potty trained for a while (as fast as I could; I suffered that humiliation for the shortest amount of time possible), could walk and run in a generally coordinated fashion, was strong enough not to need naps, and was reading hiragana and a couple of kanji. Tomoko seemed impressed, but not surprised, with my quick progress. She nodded approvingly when I learned to do a cartwheel, applauded when I demonstrated a handstand, and laughed when I learned how to juggle; light shone in her eyes when she watched me. She loved me dearly, I could tell.

You know, maybe this kind of life wasn't so bad. That's what I started thinking. It was like a break from the fast-paced lifestyle I had led, a new life where everything went by slowly. A peaceful, monotonous daily life. I felt I could keep doing this, and not be too bothered by it.

One day, around the time I turned four, everything changed. I was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud explosion. I sat up, bleary eyed, and twisted around. The futon was empty.

"Okaa-san?" My voice sounded high and weak. I rubbed my eyes. The sound of more explosions came, followed by the hollow ring of steel on steel, cries, yells, and the trampling of feet on the ground. The house rumbled, the windows shook.

The door slammed open, and Tomoko stood in the entrance, out of breath. The light behind her shone in my eyes. When the glare faded, they widened. She wasn't wearing her kimono anymore, but gray pants taped around the ankles, a tight fitted shirt over long-sleeved fishnet, and open-toed boots. She had a pouch strapped to her thigh and a knife in a holster at the small of her back; her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. It seemed to me that I had seen that look before.

I stumbled to my feet as she rushed in. "Okaa-san? What?" I mumbled. I was still sleepy.

"Tomoe, put this on." She pulled my arms into the straps of a backpack, fastened a cloak around my shoulders and knelt to slide my feet into sandals. "Hurry, come." Her voice was breathless, her eyes panicked. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. The sound of explosions drew nearer, and the cries intensified. We ran through the house, through that place that had been our home, and burst out into the street. The houses were burning, people running in panic, the heat and smoke making me cough and tear up. Tomoko tugged on my hand and led me through the street, as quick as she could.

"Okaa-san?"

She glanced down at me and smiled kindly. She always smiled like that. "It'll be alright, Tomoe. Everything will be alright."

No sooner had she spoken that a huge roar split the air. The earth grumbled and rose, forming a huge wave that towered over us. I stood in the shadow, horrified. In a flash Tomoko scooped me up and jumped. The tidal wave of earth crashed beneath us, eradicating half the village in one fell swoop. What the hell? What was that?

Tomoko landed and put me down. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a strange knife that looked familiar . . .

She pushed me behind her and raised it. From the earth in front of us, a man emerged. Grinning cockily, he wore a red outfit with one sleeve and a brown military jacket. I let out a weak cry when I saw what was around his forehead.

This couldn't be happening.

"Tomoe, get down!" Tomoko yelled. She threw the knife, the man dodged; she brought her hands together in a flurry of signs and slammed her palm on the ground. "Fire style, Earth Rip Jutsu!"

She twisted around, grabbed me, and jumped in the air. The ground cracked open, and fire burst out. I watched in awe as the flames spread over the surface, burning everything. My stomach lurched when Tomoko landed on one of the remaining streets, and looked me over. She was seriously out of breath.

"Are you alright?" she asked, wiping a bit of soot off my cheek. "Come on, let's hurry . . ." Her voice was cut short, her face twisted. She looked over her shoulder.

It was the man from before. His knife dug into her back. Red bloomed on her shirt.

"Okaa-san!" I screamed. No, no, this couldn't be happening. What the hell? Jutsu? Ninja from Iwagakure? It was like I was in . . .

Tomoko shoved me away. I hit the ground, barely saw her turning fully around, her hands weaving more signs, one brought up to her mouth, and . . .

"Fire style, Fireball Jutsu!"

The man was engulfed point blank in a stream of fire. Tomoko fell to one knee, breathing hard. Once the smoke cleared, all that was left was a charred log.

"Substitution . . . uhn!" She grunted in pain, and turned to me with a shaky rendition of her usual smile. "He'll be back . . . come on, Tomoe, we have to run now . . ." She pulled herself to her feet.

"I don't think so." The man emerged from the ground, unharmed.

"Tch . . ." Tomoko rushed towards me, scooped me up, and ran. She soared into the huge trees, leaping from branch to branch. I couldn't see anything more than a blur, and squeezed my hands into her clothing, hanging on for dear life.

We were being pursued. He wasn't as fast, but I was slowing her down. She landed in a clearing, put me down between some huge roots, and instructed me to be very quiet . . . like a game of hide and seek. I nodded, and burrowed down further inside the tangle of roots, out of sight.

She drew a kunai (I remembered the name now) and faced the clearing. The man jumped out of hiding.

"We weren't told there would be shinobi in the village." he remarked, drawing his sword. "I'm afraid I can't let you report back."

"And I didn't know Iwa had advanced so far. I take it this is your first attempt to directly invade the land of fire?" She spun her kunai over her finger.

"Perhaps." His mouth twisted. His foot twisted in the dirt, and he charged. "Now die!"

Tomoko blocked with her kunai and sprang back, throwing a handful of shuriken. He avoided them and swung again. She dodged and swept her leg over the ground, forcing him to jump. So fast I couldn't see she threw two kunai. He deflected them, too late. Tomoko dashed away, taking cover beneath a thick root. I saw a flash of light. Two explosions tore through the clearing.

Paper bombs?

Tomoko jumped back out, kunai at the ready. The man was injured, but not dead. He glared at her. She took a stance, returning the look. I stared, saw a glint of metal, the sudden, almost imperceptible smile on the ninja's face.

"Okaa-san!" I yelled. "Behind!"

She dodged the sword just in time. It cut through her waist, the new ninja carried past her by his momentum. She kneed him in the gut and jammed her kunai into his back. He disappeared in a puff of smoke. Clone?

Tomoko twisted to dodge the first man's assault, flowing into a stance and grabbing another kunai. They traded blows, but I could see it was useless. Blood flowed from her back, waist, and a new cut on her arm; she was out of breath, exhausted, injured. She didn't stand a chance anymore. A heavy feeling grew in the pit of my stomach as I realized where this was going. I felt sick. I couldn't move; my limbs trembled, in dread, fear, horror. Tomoko was going to die.

I caught her gaze through the tangle of roots, and she gave a sweet smile, her body seeming to hover in the air. I reached out my hand. Her mouth moved, tracing words, and returned to a smile. Her eyes turned away from me, hardened with determination, and a snarl came upon her lips.

"Fire style, Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

A huge ball of fire coalesced around her, taking the shape of a winding dragon. I braced myself against the sudden hot wind. Tomoko grinned, her wild red hair fanning around her face like flames, the tie broken.

The dragon roared, and charged. The two ninja couldn't escape. In an instant, the fire consumed everything in the clearing. The roots around me burned, sending an acrid smell into my lungs. I covered my head with my arms, shrinking down . . . and in the next moment, it was over.

The air felt warm, the ground nearly hot enough for the heat to pass through my shoes, but I crawled out over the tangle of roots, touching down on ash.

"Okaa-san!" I called. I looked around. The two Iwagakure ninja were dead, so burned they were nearly unrecognizable. I stared, and swallowed hard. That must have been a painful way to die . . .

"Tomoe . . ." I heard Tomoko's voice, and rushed in its direction. I suddenly saw her, slumped against a tree, having been thrown back by the blast. She raised her eyes to mine. I knelt down to her. She was a mess. Burns over forty, no, fifty percent of her body . . . I gulped. In this situation, with no access to medical care, she had at most . . .

"Okaa-san? Why?" I whimpered despite myself. I was still trembling. I didn't want to be left all alone!

"I'm sorry, it was all I could think of on short notice. I was about to run out of chakra. I'm rather out of shape, you see . . ." she coughed. "I haven't fought in years."

"But . . . Okaa-san!" I whimpered. I couldn't even speak coherently anymore. Nothing was making sense.

"Tomoe, you have to get away from here. They'll come. This is war."

"Where? Where am I supposed to go?"

"Ah . . . there should be a refugee camp near here. Head south-east until you hit the forest of dead trees, you'll know it, they're white and hard, like spiders coming from the ground, and there's no green anywhere. There, you should be found by some shinobi. They'll take you to the refugee camp after confirming you aren't a threat. It should be hard, but I know you'll make it. You're my daughter, after all. The Himura clan is strong." After a moment I vigorously shook my head.

"I'm not leaving!" I slammed my palm on the ground. "I'm not!"

"You'll be fine, Tomoe. Oh, now that I think about it, today's your birthday. You're four now. How big you've grown . . . time really does fly. Here, I have something for you. I was saving it for when you were a little older, and I could explain everything to you, but since we've run out of time . . . I guess it can't be helped."

She reached back into her pocket, and took out a rectangular piece of metal. She wordlessly pressed it into my hands. I stared at it, and got confirmation for what had happened to me, when I had died that first time.

It was a steel plate with a stylized leaf carved in the middle. A headband from Konohagakure.

"Okaa-san, this is . . ." I stared blankly back and forth at her and at the metal plate.

"I'm sorry for keeping this from you. This world is much more dangerous than you know, Tomoe. There are people called ninja, hidden villages, and a war is going on now."

That's right. I wouldn't know, because she'd never told me. The village we had lived in must have been close to Kusagakure, which Iwagakure invaded during the Third Shinobi World War in order to gain a foothold to attack the Land of Fire. It suddenly made sense, why she never let me go out, and why the streets had been so deserted.

My fingers closed tightly around the metal. Her hand reached up to stroke my hair.

"Go now, Tomoe. More are coming. I know you'll be just fine. And don't ever forget who you are, okay? Can you say it? Who are you?"

"Himura . . ." I said. "Himura Tomoe."

"That's right, good girl. Now go."

I stood shakily , turned around, and ran. I didn't want to, but I had to. I couldn't do anything more. I was a small, weak little girl, and the only thing I could do was cower and run.

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Comments, criticisms, praise, suggestions, reactions? I have little to no plot planned out and intend to make it up as I go along until one forms. Oh, I have bits and pieces here and there, but not much is concrete. We'll have to see how it goes!

Reviews feed starving authors' brains.

Peace out.


	2. It was an inconvenient encounter

Hello again. The response to the first chapter was rather good, so I'm updating sooner than I usually would. This chapter might be a bit shorter, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

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I ran as far as I could into the forest, leaving it all behind. I tripped over a root and sprawled in the dirt. Before I knew it, I was hyperventilating. I gasped for breath, panicking, choking, and had no idea why. I wasn't a kid. I was a grown woman, and assassin, a poison expert. I'd killed and maimed and destroyed hundreds of people. I didn't fall to pieces just because . . . just because . . .

I'd never realized how attached to Tomoko I had become.

This was just pathetic.

I got ahold of myself. I couldn't keep doing this. I sat up, dusted myself off, and looked around to see how far I had gotten. The sun was rising over the trees, so I must have been running for a while. I was exhausted. The trees were huge, thick, making me feel even smaller than usual.

The first step was to take a deep breath and assess the situation. I did so by sitting on a root, blankly observing the sky and the clouds that started to cover it, crossing my arms, and relaxing. I could do this because I had been in precarious situations before, and I was not going to give up now.

First, when and where. I was in the Naruto world, around the time of the Third Shinobi World War. If I remembered correctly, Kakashi's team had led a mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge and turn the tide in Konoha's favor. I didn't know if that had taken place yet, but for now, I couldn't worry about it. I had to save my own skin first.

I kicked my legs in the air, thinking hard. How the heck could this happen? Why? What could I have possibly done . . . right, sorry. I guess if this is punishment I deserve it. But still, the hell? Death and reincarnation in a fictional world? Shit, I _stopped watching_ this show. It was fun for a while, but I _dropped_ it. Why did I do that again? Oh, yeah, because I craved new things and got bored really quickly. Honestly, sometimes I had the attention span of a goldfish.

I could dwell on that later. Now, I had to think of what to do next.

Tomoko had told me to go to the refugee camp. That was sound advice. There would most likely be help for me there. I could worry about what came after that when I had actually made it to safety.

Now, how to get there. I rewinded Tomoko's instructions through my mind, and decided I wasn't going to get very far without some kind of guidance. I felt the weight of the pack on my shoulders, and decided to look through it.

I took off my cloak, folding it neatly, and examined the contents of the pack. Dried food rations, enough for three days for two people; a bamboo water container; water-purifying tablets; pills that looked like the kind shinobi took on missions, to replenish chakra and energy; a set of kunai and shuriken; some wire and rope; a small first aid kit with extra bandages; a bundle of clothes; a map; a compass; a brush and ink set . . .

Man, Tomoko was well prepared, wasn't she?

First, I pulled out the map. It was useless, as I didn't know where I was. I put it back. The compass would be more useful. I left it out. Then, I examined the pills. They would come in handy if I wanted to move without digging into my limited food supply. In my own world, I had known how to forage, but here I didn't know if the plants were the same. Better not risk it. I crunched down on one, and nearly spit it out. It was bitter! I forced myself to chew and swallow. Before long, a fresh wave of energy came over me. I nodded to myself, and wrapped up the rest.

Water would be an issue. There was a roughly week-long supply of tablets. I would have to conserve. My first step on my journey, once preparations were made, would be to find a stream or lake.

I looked over the clothes. They were my size, a form-fitting dark blue shirt with long sleeves and a high collar, black pants that cut off below the knee, gloves, and sturdy open-toed sandals. I guess in the event that we had to run Tomoko didn't intend for me to travel in a kimono and straw sandals. Smart woman.

I suddenly got an idea. This was a warzone, right? I'd travelled through them before. There was a rule I had learned to abide by, and that was to hide the fact that I was a woman. Seriously, nasty stuff happened to women who were found by soldiers, and robbers were more likely to attack you. I was young, but you could never be too careful. I was in the land of fire, so I doubted it would come to that, but the general rule was that you were safer pretending to be male.

I ran my hand through my hair. It came down to my shoulder blades. Yeah, that would work . . .

What was left? The kunai and shuriken set. There was a holster included with the clothing, but it was too big for me. Not that I could really use them. My aim would be off in this body. My specialty had been poison; I had carried blades for self-protection, and trained extensively with them (hey, I lived on the edge) but had only used them a couple of times. Not that I would have ever thought of throwing them. What if I missed? Then I would be short a weapon with my enemy still coming at me.

After a moment's consideration, I removed two kunai from the set and replaced the rest in the pack.

"Alright then, first step, find water!" I said loudly, pointing to the sky. "I'm gonna beat this world!"

That said, finding a stream was harder than I thought. I had to walk a lot, and my feet started to hurt. Thank god for the soldier pills. I walked and walked, having to climb over and crawl under roots of varying sizes and beat back the brush because of course there was no trail here. The sun was higher in the sky and I was beginning to get seriously thirsty when I caught the sound of running water.

I dashed out of the trees and laughed out loud at the sight. A small stream, sunlight reflecting off the running surface, it was barely deep enough to go up to my knees, but was so clear I could see the pebbled bottom. I crouched by the edge, taking off my pack and getting out my water bottle and the tablets. I filled it up, dropped a tablet in, waited a few minutes, and gulped it down. It tasted sweet and fresh.

Once I was good on the hydrated front, I started my transformation. I stripped off my yukata and under kimono, keeping my underwear, and changed into the clothes that were in the bag. They were a bit baggy, but that was fine. I tucked my pants into the sandals, tightened the belt, rolled up the sleeves, and I was good. The next part would be tricky.

I'd never had much experience cutting my own hair, especially not with a knife. I did my best. Strands of red fell into the river as I chopped, drifting away with the current. I looked into my reflection, grimacing a bit when I was done. It wasn't neat, but it would be serviceable.

My once long hair was now boyishly short, the longest bits hovering over my neck (it _really _wasn't the best haircut in the world); I kept my bangs, though I shortened them a little to keep them from getting into my eyes.

Finally, I was ready. I looked like a boy; nobody would tell the difference. Being a child had its uses sometimes.

I tied the water bottle to my belt, put one kunai in each pocket, hung the compass on a string around my neck, shouldered my pack, put my cloak back on, took a deep breath, and set out.

What would happen from now on? Heck if I knew. But I was going to jump head first into this world. I wouldn't let it put me down.

I traveled for several days, heading steadily south-east. It was painful. My feet blistered, I got sunburned, I had to sleep outside with the insects and animals, I could only wash in the freezing cold water of whatever stream I managed to find, the food was bland, the pills bitter, and the weather did not cooperate. It rained nearly the whole way. And here I thought the land of fire was a sunny, sunny place.

I made the tablets last for about a week, after which I desperately needed to find some kind of town. The forest of dead trees was nowhere in sight, and I was starting to think I'd missed it, or was going in the wrong direction.

"Ah, geez!" I yelled, staring at the compass. "I know I'm going the right way! Where is that damn refugee camp! I'm tired of walking! Tired! Tired, I say!" I kicked a tree. I wanted clean water. I wanted real food. I wanted a bath. I wanted a warm bed. And while I was wishing for things, I wanted my old life back. I wanted to be a super powerful (and well paid) assassin, living in luxury.

Before I knew it I was kicking harder and harder at the tree. It was so frustrating! The bark cracked. I gritted my teeth. I was so weak!

"Kuso!" I screamed, giving an even harder kick. Pain shot through my leg and I fell back. My ankle throbbed.

"That was smart." An emotionless voice came from above.

"Yeah, well that's none of your business." I retorted without thinking. I winced. "Ow . . ."

"Are you lost?" Another voice came, this time a girl. Suddenly two people dropped from the branches above, landing behind me. I glanced back. I had to keep an extremely firm grip on myself (which thankfully I was good at) to keep from screaming and hopping away on one foot.

They were about twelve, thirteen, give or take. The boy had silver hair that stuck straight up, bandages around his left eye, and a mask covering the lower half of his face, leaving only a sardonic eye in view. His companion was a kind-looking girl with short brown hair that framed her face, brown eyes, purple rectangular markings on her cheeks; she carried a pack. Both had Konoha forehead protectors.

'_Well, well, look at that. I guess I got my answer after all.'_ I thought wryly. I now knew exactly where I was plot-wise.

I blinked up at Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Do you need help? I can take a look at your ankle." Rin offered. Man, she was a sweet one wasn't she?

"Rin, be careful. It could be an enemy scout." Kakashi said, putting his arm out to keep her from getting closer.

I pushed myself up, using the tree as support, and gingerly put my weight on my right foot. I winced. Shooting a glare in their direction, I started to hobble off. Hey, if they weren't going to help me, then I wasn't sticking around.

It didn't work out well when I fell flat on my face. Sighing, Kakashi lifted the bandages from his left eye, revealing his Sharingan. He looked at me for a moment, then pulled them back down.

"He's a civilian. Go ahead."

Rin ran to me, taking off her pack. I pushed myself up to a seating position. She removed my shoe so she could take a look at my ankle.

"Ow!" I whined when she put her hands on it.

"I'm sorry. It looks like you've sprained it. I can heal it for you. Don't worry, I'm a medical ninja from Konoha. You'll be fine in just a minute, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded. Kakashi leaned against a tree, watching our surroundings.

"What's your name?" Rin asked as her hands began to glow green. A tingling, warm sensation made its way through my skin and up my leg.

"Himura Tomoe."

"Tomoe-kun? What are you doing around here?"

"I was looking for the refugee camp." I answered. The healing was quite a pleasant process. The pain was already fading. "Okaa-san told me to go there."

"Where is she now? Were you separated?"

"She got in a fight with some Iwa ninja."

Kakashi's eye snapped to me. He came over, and crouched so that he was eye level with me. "You mean you saw Iwa shinobi in the land of fire?"

I nodded. "They attacked the village we were living in."

He frowned, and turned to Rin. "We have to report this. Just because the Kannabi Bridge is destroyed doesn't mean the war is over. Hurry up."

"I'm almost done." she smiled at me. "Where's your mom now?"

"She's dead." I said bluntly.

"Oh . . . I'm sorry." she said sincerely.

I shrugged. A kid might've burst into tears, but I wasn't one, so I wasn't going to act like one.

"Are you all alone now?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you were heading for the refugee camp?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you got lost?"

"Uh-huh."

"How long has it been?"

I mentally counted. "A bit more than a week. I haven't been going very fast, and I think I missed the camp."

"You were on your own for that long?" she appeared shocked.

"Uh-huh. Is my leg almost good? I have to hurry."

"Ah, yes, just a bit more."

When she was done, she seemed to think for a while, looking over me as I stood and tested my leg, hopping a little. It was fully healed. Medical ninjutsu was sure amazing.

She glanced over at Kakashi. Their eyes met. His widened.

"No." he said suddenly.

"But he's all alone . . ."

"We have to report back."

"Good, he can tell us which village it was."

"Can't he tell us now?"

"But . . ."

"Rin," he frowned. "No. He'll get in the way."

The exchange continued while I looked on. They were pretty entertaining, and I had trouble getting over the fact that I was seeing previously two-dimensional characters moving and talking in front of me, like real live people. However, I actually did have things to get back to.

I waved my hand. "Huh . . . can I go now?"

Kakashi's shoulders slumped, defeated. Apparently the argument had been won. Rin knelt down to face me. "We're going to take you to the camp, Tomoe-kun. Don't worry, it'll be alright!"

Oh, gee, yippee.

Kakashi sighed. He went down on one knee, holding his arms back. "Climb on. Hurry up."

I stared at him. A piggy-back ride? Was this guy serious? Oh wait, that made sense. He saw me as a kid, and I couldn't run as fast or as long as them. That meant being carried. I grimaced, inwardly of course. Outwardly, I went to him, and wrapped my arms over his shoulders. He secured my legs and off we were.

Have you ever flown through the trees? The closest feeling was zip-lining, which was a lot more fun because it didn't go up and down all the time. It was a bit nauseating at first, but then I got somewhat used to it (I was adaptable like that).

"Tomoe-kun, how old are you?" Rin asked.

"I'm six." I lied. Actually, I was four, but they didn't know that. I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to boost my development a bit.

"You're pretty small for a six year old." Kakashi commented.

"Hey!"

"Do you have any other relatives?"

"Not that I know of. Okaa-san raised me on her own."

"She sounds like a strong woman. What was her name?"

"Himura Tomoko."

"Hum . . ." Kakashi's arms tightened around my legs. "Would Himura happen to be written with the kanji for fire and village?"

"Yeah . . ." I wasn't sure how he knew that and where he was going with this.

"Would she have happened to be a shinobi?"

"Huh . . ." I was hesitant to respond when fate decided to respond for me. As we were flying, the metal plate flew out of my pocket. I watched in horror as it fell through the air, bounced off a tree branch, and sunk with a rustle into the leaves below. Kakashi came to a grinding halt on another branch, Rin landing beside him. He dumped me and disappeared in a flash.

"Ow . . ." I complained, standing up and dusting myself off. "A warning would have been nice . . ."

"Sorry about Kakashi, he can be a bit rough sometimes. Oh, my name is Rin."

"Nice to meet you . . . Ah!" I jumped in surprise when Kakashi reappeared, holding the metal plate.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his unconcerned demeanor shifting. He held it up. A ray of sunlight glinted off the Konoha headband.

I had no real reason to lie, so I didn't. Not that I could come up with anything more convincing than, 'I took it off a shinobi's corpse, thought it would make a nice momento' which invited far more questions than it answered.

"Okaa-san gave it to me, before she died."

Kakashi nodded, and put the plate in his pocket. "I'll be hanging on to this."

"Hey!" I said, anger growing. "That's mine!"

"Kakashi?" Rin asked. "What's wrong?"

"There's been a change of plans. We're bringing him back to Konoha."

"Why's that?"

"Yeah, why is that? Give it back!" I jumped at him, but he kept me at arm's length with one hand on my head. I struggled ineffectually.

"I'll show you, if you calm down."

I thought about it, and backed off, smoothing my hair back. Kakashi dug into his pouch, and took out a small black book. He flipped through it, and held it open in front of my face. Rin knelt down to see it too.

"Would this be your mother, Tomoe-kun?" Kakashi asked.

I could scarcely believe it. "Yeah . . ." There was no doubting that obnoxious hair, those blue eyes, that face. She had her forehead protector sewn onto her left sleeve, and wore the usual Konoha uniform. The writing was a lot of kanji, but I could read what was above the picture: 火村 智子. Himura Tomoko.

"This is a bingo book. Himura Tomoko is a missing-nin. According to this, she defected five years ago, around the beginning of the war. Likely when you were very young."

I was . . . well, rather shocked. Rin put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? Tomoe-kun?"

I couldn't answer. On one hand, this explained a hell of a lot. The secrecy at the place where I had been born, the nigh flight in the wagon, and the confinement at the house in the village; if she was afraid of being found out . . .

Kakashi put the book back in his pouch. "So, we need to bring you in. Are you going to resist, or are you going to come quietly?"

I glared at him. Like I had any goddamn choice in the matter.

* * *

One note: the suffix -kun is usually used for boys. It can in some cases be applied to girls, but here it means that they see Tomoe as a boy.

Kakashi has made an appearance. I think I want to give him an important role, that's why he's in the characters tag in the description . . . we'll see how it goes.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, random thoughts, rants, complaints, suggestions? Anything is welcome, so please review!

Peace out.


	3. It was the story of a clan

We stopped at a Konoha outpost, a sort of rallying point for shinobi in the area. It was there that Konoha shinobi who were on long assignments could rest and resupply, as well as an extra command center to increase the speed of transmission of information. Classic warfare strategy.

I was dumped (again) from Kakashi's back as he landed in a clearing and identified himself to the guard. He quickly sketched out that I was a civilian they were escorting to the leaf, and that seemed to be explanation enough to let us through. The camp was composed of one main building, made of wood, surrounded by a lot of tents and supply wagons. Ninjas from the leaf were everywhere, discussing, resting, making preparations to go back out. Kakashi led us to the wood building, repeated the same procedure as before with a new guard, and went inside.

It wasn't all that glorious, let me tell you that. There was a desk, overflowing with maps and papers, filing cabinets similarly bursting, and a weary looking jonin sitting there, trying to shuffle through them all and put some kind of order. He briefly glanced up as Kakashi gave his report, called an aid to relay the message to the other camps and headquarters, and instructed Kakashi and Rin to rendezvous with their leader. What about me? When the guy heard who I was, told them to 'not let him out of your sight.' So much for that. I was hoping they would leave me here, and somebody else would take me to Konoha. Or maybe they would just forget about me, because they ought to have better things to do.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do (not that I was given much of a choice). I'd never considered much beyond getting to the refugee camp, and that was off the table now. I didn't particularly want to go to Konoha. The only sense in going there would be to become a ninja, which didn't appeal to me that much. One thing I'd liked about my old life was being able to choose what work I did. I hadn't been under the thumb of a higher power, I was freelance, baby. Giving up that freedom would be hard to swallow, so I'd unconsciously put going to Konoha off the table. Besides, if I went, with Tomoko being a missing-nin and all, they were unlikely to let me enroll at the Academy. I'd go to an orphanage, and be raised as a boring old civilian.

So, to sum up, going to Konoha struck me as a bad idea. Next best option!

As Kakashi steered me out of the cabin, I began to think about an escape plan.

"Tomoe-kun, do you want to come with me and get some food?" Rin asked.

Food? Where? "Hell yeah!" I hopped, raising my hands. "Food!"

She laughed, and took my hand. "Alright. Kakashi, are you coming?"

"What?" he said distractedly. "No, I have to send a message to Minato-sensei. I'll catch up with you later."

He walked away. I stuck my tongue out at him behind his back. He turned around. I played innocent. With one last suspicious glance he disappeared with a handsign and a cloud of smoke.

"Now, what about that food?" I looked up at Rin.

Food turned out to be thin soup with dumplings floating in it. It didn't have much taste, but I hadn't eaten real food in days. I was _starving._

We sat down on a log to eat (I had to jump a little to reach it). As soon as I was comfortable perched, I attacked.

"Tomoe-kun?"

"Yeah?" I raised my face from my bowl, furiously chewing.

" . . . Shouldn't you slow down a bit? Your meal isn't going anywhere."

I put the bowl down, and grimaced. Yeah, she was probably right. I continued to eat at a better pace, using the massive amounts of self-control I had.

"Sorry." I said. "I've been living on soldier pills while I was traveling. They're icky."

Her eyes widened. "Tomoe-kun!" she said accusingly.

"What?"

"You're still growing! You shouldn't be eating those!"

I shrugged. I figured as much. "I was hungry." I said dumbly. She face-palmed.

I finished eating in no time, and sat back, letting out a satisfied sigh. Now, if I could only get a hot bath and a bed to sleep in, my life would be complete.

"Rin." Kakashi appeared in the clearing, startling me. "I received word from Minato-sensei. We are to return to Konoha with the boy."

"What about our mission?"

"A different team was about to be sent out to relieve us anyway. We've been scouting for two weeks now. Minato-sensei is meeting up with us at rendezvous point three."

She nodded, standing up and grabbing her pack. I jumped down, took my own bag, hoisted it on my shoulders, and began to walk in the opposite direction. I got about three feet away, when something grabbed the back of my collar.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"For a . . . walk?"

"Nice try, kid. Come on, we're going."

I pulled against him, my shirt stretching out behind me, flapping my arms. "Why do I need to come? I didn't do anything!"

"Your mother was a wanted missing-nin."

"So?"

"You might have information to give. Additionally, what you said about the Iwa ninja attacking your village checks out. Several other scouting teams have reported encountering civilians fleeing from the area."

"Besides," Rin said. "We can't leave you out here on your own. You're a citizen of Konoha."

"I am?" I questioned as I stopped flailing about. I turned around, eyes glinting suspiciously. "So you won't throw me in a dungeon, or torture me or something?"

"Where did you get that idea?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this is war, right?"

"How old did you say you were?"

"I'm six. Or a bit older." I grinned.

Kakashi didn't look convinced. "Riiiight. Climb on, kid. We don't have all day."

I hesitated for a second. Rin looked at me expectantly. Kakashi was waiting. I could try and make a run for it, but my top speed in this body was shit. I felt cornered.

Finally, I grinned. Hey, why not grab this opportunity by the horns? I was dead anyway. My idea had always been to take over hell when I died, and here I was. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was a world full of possibilities. How fast would I be able to rise to the top? How much power could I gather while living here? How much fun was there to be had, how much excitement? How could I mess it up, and turn this into a blast?

I loved chaos, I loved entertainment, I loved entertaining chaos, and I had a full library of knowledge about this world. Knowledge is power; that much becomes evident when you're living in the black shadow of the world. Even if I was a child, I was going to grow up. I knew about poisons, and I could train myself. A teacher would make things go faster, but there was no reason I couldn't go back to how I previously was: strong, smart, athletic, skilled, an expert in assassination. Heck I could also learn about the plants that were unique to this world. Goodie, more fun! That was my 'hobby' after all.

And I was _very_ good at my 'hobby.'

Now all I had to do was escape.

* * *

We traveled for about a day. The night was much more comfortable for me (relatively speaking) as Rin let me sleep next to her in her sleeping bag. They couldn't have a fire, but I was warm. Kakashi raised his eyebrow at that, and I stuck my tongue out at him, fully aware that he could see me. That seemed to annoy him a lot, and Rin was none the wiser.

I was really starting to warm up to her. When we took breaks she let me drink some of her water, gave me some little pieces of hard candy, and treated all the cuts and bruises I got from being lugged around by Kakashi, who, by the way, was _not_ happy to have me around. I could understand that, from a security perspective, but he didn't have to be a jerk about it. Hence, the tongue-sticking.

For food, they had soldier pills. When I tried to eat some of my own, Rin balked and gave me some packaged food rations. It was bland, but better tasting than the pills. When I asked her about the herbs that were around, and if any were edible, she quickly ran through a list of those whose roots could be eaten raw, those that needed to be cooked, the poisonous ones I should avoid, some medicinal herbs that could be applied to cuts, and pointed out one that was particularly poisonous if ingested. Not enough to kill you, but she still warned me. I carefully committed the information to memory, especially the last one. Anything was deadly in a high enough dose.

After Kakashi grumbled about how much time we were wasting, we went on our way.

'Rendezvous point three' turned out to be a clearing filled with soft grass, with a large oak tree in the middle. Rin and Kakashi waited out in the trees, concealing our presence, scanning their surroundings to check for any unwanted visitors. I was tempted to burst into song.

"We're clear." said Kakashi. "Let's move."

They landed out in the clearing. When Kakashi let me go, I was ready and only stumbled back, keeping my feet on the ground. The grass was incredibly pretty, and I knelt down to run my hand through it. I looked up. The sky was pure blue, with a couple of fluffy white clouds meandering. This would be the perfect place for a nap.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

"Minato-sensei!" Rin waved. When I turned my face fully around, once again my excellent self-control stood in handy. This was not a character I ever expected to see alive, even in this world. The spiky blond-haired, blue-eyed, rather tall man in the standard shinobi uniform and flak jacket, the future Fourth Hokage and Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato.

"Hello, Rin, Kakashi. How did the mission go?" Minato approached and conferred with his students.

"We brought _that_ back." Kakashi jammed a thumb at me over his shoulder. Minato looked past him at me. I straightened up. "He's Himura Tomoko's son, Himura Tomoe."

Minato's expression turned a bit shocked when he heard my mother's name, but he came up to me all the same, and extended his hand with a smile. "My name is Minato. Nice to meet you, Tomoe-kun."

"Nice to meet you too." I shook his hand a little sullenly.

"Where is your mom now?"

"Sensei, his mother was killed in the attack on the border village." Rin said hastily.

Minato nodded gravely. "I heard about that. However, once they heard about the destruction of Kannabi Bridge, they fell back. The village was completely destroyed, but there are no more Iwa ninja in the Land of Fire."

"What now?" Kakashi asked. "We were ordered to return to the village. Is that really a good idea?"

"Armistice talks have been scheduled. I can't make any promises, but the war has turned in our favor."

"Oh thank goodness!" Rin breathed out a sigh, one hand over her heart. "Isn't this great, Kakashi?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment. His eye narrowed, and his hand went to the bandage covering the left side of his face. "Surely we aren't going to let them get away with this?" he said. "After all this, how can we just talk things out? There's no way that'll happen!"

Minato looked down at his student with sad eyes. "It's true that there were many casualties. Everybody lost somebody. But that is precisely why we cannot let this go on. We have the advantage, and Sandaime intends to leverage a peace treaty. This needs to end."

Kakashi's fist balled. He looked furious and desperate, but also powerless. I suddenly remembered. Obito . . . his friend had died. Or so he thought. This really was a tragic story.

I thought they had forgotten about me, when Rin took my hand and squeezed it tight. I didn't understand, and looked up at her with wide eyes.

"It's for the sake of making sure children don't grow up in the same world we did." continued Minato, looking up at the sky. "You know, better than most, that a lot of young shinobi lost their lives because of the shortage of manpower."

Ah, that's right. I was a child here. Sometimes, I forgot. Rin's grasp was small, but mine was even smaller, so it got lost in her cold hand. I was small, all of me, small and powerless; a thing to be protected; a hope for the future. That was what children were to Konoha.

Every shinobi who possessed the Will of Fire eventually came to understand what the 'King' they were protecting was. Minato, surely, knew.

Kakashi nodded after a moment. He took a deep breath to compose himself. "Alright. Let's go then."

We started traveling again, and it was much more pleasant than before. Minato carried me while Kakashi served as a scout, staying a bit ahead. Rin stayed level with us, some distance away, completing the triangle formation. While they jumped from tree to tree, Minato kept up a conversation with me, starting by asking for my age. I replied with my lie, which made him chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Tomoe-kun, but I know you cannot be older than four."

"Why's that?" I replied guardedly.

"I knew your mother. She was a skilled kunoichi, a jounin, from the same graduating class as me."

"You were in school together?" I didn't hide my surprise. He nodded.

"Yes. Himura Tomoko was exceptionally skilled at Fire style Jutsu and Taijutsu. Some said that was to be expected, since she was one of the last of the Himura clan, but she never saw it like that. She worked as hard as any of us."

"The Himura clan?" I asked.

"She didn't tell you?" He kicked off a branch, turning his head around slightly. Wind rushed by us.

"No. But she taught me how to write it."

"Do you want to know?"

I nodded, his spiky hair brushing my cheek.

"The Himura clan was one of the clans that joined the village soon after it was founded. They were originally allies of the Uchiha. Do you know who the Uchiha are?"

"Uh-huh." I remembered all that.

"The Himura clan was for some time considered a very strong clan within Konoha, known for their mastery of Fire style. Some said they had Uchiha blood, but it's actually the opposite. As they shared a fighting-style with the Uchiha and typically possessed fire-type chakra, women from the Himura clan traditionally married into the Uchiha clan."

I snorted in disgust. He laughed. "Yes, this must be strange to you. Is there anything about what I said you didn't understand? Do you know about elemental chakra?"

"Yeah I do. So why was Okaa-san the last?" I tugged on his jacket. I was a bit impatient. "Tell me!"

"Alright, alright," he laughed, then went somber. "They just . . . declined. It happens in some clans. As the years went by they produced fewer and fewer chuunin and jounin level shinobi, until most of them integrated into the civilian population and changed their names. There was one family left, but it was decimated in the Second Shinobi World War."

"How so? What happened?"

"They wanted to prove themselves. The Himura clan was known for being hot-tempered and prideful. They were very much like the Uchiha in that respect. I imagine they took exceptional risks, and paid the price for it."

"Oh." I commented. "But Okaa-san was great, right? You said so!"

"Of course. Tomoko-san was the last shinobi her clan produced, and she was exceptionally talented. Well, by that time, hardly anyone knew about the Himura clan anymore. Today, I doubt a soul remembers, even those that are descended from them."

"That's a sad story." I remarked drily. No wonder Tomoko was so adamant about me not forgetting my name. For all I knew, I was the last one. I suddenly remembered the original topic of our conversation, and gave another tug on his jacket. "So why do you think I'm lying about my age?"

"When Tomoko-san left the village five years ago, she had no children. You are at most four years old, Tomoe-kun."

I huffed. "Are you going to tell?" I said sullenly.

"I can let it slide for now. I don't see why it would be important. Tell you what, I'll keep quiet if you tell me about your life before your village was attacked."

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious as to how she lived. There aren't many shinobi who simply leave the village without having committed any crime."

I thought about that. "But why did she leave then?" That was the part that made no sense.

Minato shrugged. "No one ever knew why. So, will you tell me about it?"

I told him about our life in the village. There honestly wasn't much to tell, so it was over pretty quickly. I told him about how she died, and the headband she gave me.

"Baka-Kakashi still has it." I pouted. "Jerk."

Minato laughed. "Yes, that's quite like him. Do you want it back?"

"I guess."

"Then why don't you make a game of it?"

My eyes widened. "Stealing it?"

"Yes. It will be a good way to pass the time, won't it? I'll give you something good if you succeed."

My interest was piqued. "What is it? What, what?"

"You'll see." He turned his head around, and I caught the edge of a grin on his face.

Inwardly, I was grinning myself. This was perfect. "Can I do _anything_? Anything at all?"

"Of course."

"Okay then, can you help me? I just need you to keep Kakashi distracted for a little bit. I'll hide and ambush him. Pretty please?" I put on my most childish tone. "Please? Minato-san?"

He burst out laughing. "Oh, alright. But that's all I'm doing, alright?"

I nodded, plastering a great grin on my face. "It's a deal! The next time we take a break!"

After some time, and a bunch of random discussions during which I babbled about the rain (further cementing the image of a child in his mind), we stopped. Rin gave me some more candy and a sip of water, and looking me over for bruises. Since the ride with Minato was a lot smoother, I didn't need healing at all.

"Huh, I gotta go." I said, heading for the bushes.

"Make it quick, we're leaving in two minutes!" Kakashi called after me. I briefly locked eyes with Minato, and grinned. He moved in to talk with Kakashi, blocking his view of me. I dove into the underbrush and circled around.

What did I do next?

Why, I snuck away.

I crawled through the bushes on my stomach, making as little noise as possible. I used the compass around my neck to make sure I didn't go around in circles. I had been checking our direction at every stop we made, so I had a pretty good idea of where we were relative to my village. We'd been traveling east for a while now; Konoha must be close. The trees were sure big enough.

After crawling for a while, I made it out into an area with very little underbrush and exceptionally huge trees. I glanced up. No good. Not enough cover. I backtracked a bit, took a slightly different route, and ended up on a hunter's trail in the forest. It was sheltered by a canopy of very small trees, and walking was easier. I shrugged my shoulders to readjust my pack. I was short enough that I could easily fit in here, although an adult would have to go on their hands and knees.

I couldn't go very fast. I had a keen knowledge of this body's limits, and I knew a run, even a slow trot, would wear me out too fast. Best I could manage was a walk. I still hurried as much as I could. I didn't know how long I had until they came after me, so I had to try and loose them before that.

I was _not_ going to Konoha.

Sure, it was kind of a shame about the headband, but that would be a small price to pay for freedom. I was confident I could survive at least long enough to reach a village. Then, I would live . . . well I wasn't sure yet, but I'd figure something out.

I was an expert assassin, god dammit. I was nothing if not resourceful.

_An assassin that got caught._

I stopped dead in my tracks as I realized that. I had been _caught_.

I was horrified. I'd never given it any thought. How did those hitmen find me? Where did I go wrong, what did I mess up? Man, this pissed me off. Someone had gotten the better of me. Shit.

"Focus, girl, focus . . ." I mumbled to myself, restarting my walk, powering full steam. "Keep your eyes on the goal. Go on, girl, you can do it." No one could outsmart me. I was the best money could buy.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit . . ." I repeated in a whisper as I continued along. "Make a fool out of me, why don't you? Get the better of me, why don't you? Unforgivable! How dare those scum! No one can keep up with me! I'm the best money can buy!"

_And you got caught._

I had got to stop thinking about that! But it just pissed me off so much! My face was red, my fists were balled, my feet came down hard on the ground; I was an angry mess. I continued in that state until I had had enough. Just at that moment, I heard a stream nearby. I looked up. It was getting dark.

I sprinted towards the source of the water, and found a moderately sized river running. I proceeded to dunk my head.

I emerged gasping because of the cold, water streaming from my hair. I was getting soaked, and the air was turning chilly. Not one of my brightest moments, but hey, I was calm now. I went back to the cover of the trees and found a good spot between some smaller trunks and some roots, where I couldn't be seen from above. I put down my bag, and sighed. I was exhausted.

My food pills were almost gone, but I had some rations left over. For water, my safest bet would be to boil it, and for that I needed fire. But here was the problem. How the hell was I supposed to start a fire? No matches, no lighters, no sunlight and glass . . . so no clean water.

I curled up on my side, using my bag as a pillow. I was really thirsty after all that walking, and so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. The cold seeped into my body from the hard ground. I shivered. My stomach growled.

Cold, tired, hungry, thirsty. In one word, miserable. I began to regret leaving those guys. It was warm in Rin's sleeping bag, and she had food. I didn't have to run, because they carried me everywhere. Taking care of me, like a child.

I suddenly hated that, and knocked myself on the head for thinking it. I wasn't a kid.

I should really sleep now. There would be a lot of walking tomorrow. Though I didn't know where I should go . . .

* * *

I got a couple of comments I'd like to address here. I hope I can clarify everything

-Kakashi mentioned that Tomoe was a civilian after looking at her with his Sharingan. Ninja have a developed chakra network, and civilians do not; since the Sharingan sees chakra as color, he is able to tell the difference. Tomoe is a child, and has never been trained, so her chakra network is the same as a civilian's.

-There are two reasons that contributed to Tomoko's death: one, she was seriously out of shape, having not fought, trained, or molded chakra in years; two, she was protecting Tomoe, and I imagine trying to fight while carrying a small child can get pretty tough, especially if you're outnumbered.

-Kakashi as we see him in this story is not the Kakashi we all know and love, he's his twelve year old self. From the two episodes we got covering his past, I have to infer what his personality would be like; this is rather difficult as they don't show him in the days following Obito's death, and we don't know precisely how he was affected. I imagine him as still wanting to follow rules, rather cold, and a bit impatient with Tomoe. This is mostly my personal interpretation of his character.

And that's it for today. Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, and other assorted things I can't think of right now? Leave a review!

Peace out.


	4. It was a funny nickname

Merry Christmas! I'm updating sooner than I usually would; consider it a Christmas present.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night. It was so damn cold! Rain pelted on the roots overhead, a couple of drops dripping down and hitting me on the nose. My clothes were a bit wet, which accounted for why I felt like I was freezing. It made me feel sluggish.

I sat up, blinking. Suddenly a bright light flashed, followed by grumbling thunder. Oh great, a storm. Aren't I just the luckiest friggin girl in the world? I got to my feet, stumbling a little, and grabbed my pack. If I couldn't sleep because it was too cold, then I'd walk and warm up.

I started back on my walk. After a couple of minutes, I found a large leaf to use as an umbrella. It was kind of cute. A bit after that, I got a bit nervous. Was there supposed to be fog with this kind of rain? Wait, I couldn't hear the drops anymore. I set my leaf down. The smell of rain had completely vanished, and the soil didn't feel soft anymore. I looked around. The trees were faint shadows outlined in the dense mist.

"The heck is going on?" I called. On . . . on . . . on . . . . my echo came back to haunt me, swirling around the white air.

"Tomoe."

I whirled around. That voice, I remembered it from somewhere! Yes, I knew it, a very gentle, very kind voice . . .

"Okaa-san?"

"Tomoe!"

She emerged from the fog, in her brown yukata, her long red hair streaming behind her like a bright beacon in the darkness. A smile broke out on my face, getting wider and wider.

"Okaa-san!" I ran to her. I didn't have to worry anymore!

She knelt down to embrace me. "Tomoe, I'm sorry I left you all alone. It will be alright now. Don't worry." She stroked my hair in that way she had.

"Uh-huh." I was so happy I couldn't say anything else.

"What have you been doing all this time? How did you manage to survive on your own? You poor child."

"See, after I'd been traveling for a while, I met . . ."

I cut myself short. Wait a minute. This didn't make any sense. Did it? Wasn't Tomoko . . . well . . . dead?

"Okaa-san, can I ask you a question?" I said.

"Of course, sweetie, anything." Her hands threaded through my hair. My long hair.

"Why did you leave Konoha?"

She stared back at me blankly. No emotion crossed her face, as if she didn't know what expression to put on next.

I took a step back, and ran my hand down my hair. A good try, would have worked on a child, but I was stronger than that. Tomoko might have acted as my mother for a time, but that was over.

"Genjutsu, huh?" I said to myself, looking around. "I have to break this thing, then?" My eyes turned to my hand. "If I knew how to use chakra, this would be a piece of cake. What to do, what to do . . . well, I know one way, but it will seriously suck. What do you say, Tomoko?" I crossed my arms and lifted an eyebrow. She still wasn't responsive. This wasn't a very impressive genjutsu, was it? I mean, learn to improvise a little. The target being a kid is no excuse.

I reached into my pocket and drew out the kunai. I gleamed sharply. I raised it in front of me, and held out my left hand, palm facing inward.

"This is seriously going to suck."

I drove the kunai into my hand.

It hurt. It hurt like a son of a bitch. I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming. Blood flowed out, dripped down, seemed to merge with the mist, and before I knew it the fog began to dissipate. I was left standing in the middle of a clearing, soaked to the skin by the falling rain, a kunai in my hand, and my own blood mixing with the puddle.

I removed the kunai with a grunt, and raised my face. "Who did that?" I called. "Helloooooo? If you want to talk come out and do it." No response. Okay, step it up a notch. "What kind of weak genjutsu was that? I'm _six_, people, I can't use chakra and even _I_ got out of it." No response.

Oh, there was a reaction all right. A volley of shuriken erupted from the trees, headed straight for me. I screamed and ducked. One grazed my cheek. When I peeked up, a tall figure was looming over me.

"That's enough." I recognized that voice, and that hair. Minato turned around slightly to smile at me. "Are you alright, Tomoe-kun?"

"Y-yeah." I stood on shaky legs. The deflected shuriken were scattered around us. "Wait, how did you find me?" I cried out in dismay.

"You have quite an ego for such a little squirt." Kakashi dropped down from the trees. "We've been following you since you left."

"What? No way!"

"We can talk about this later. We have to focus now." Minato's eyes snapped around. The mist was thickening. "Kiri ninja? Kakashi!"

"I'm on it." He lifted the bandages over his eye. "Three enemies. Four, eight, twelve o'clock. Wait, they're retreating!"

"Are you sure?"

Kakashi nodded. "Positive. Their goal may have been to find out who we were. They have that information now, thanks to the brat." He covered his eye.

"Hey! I didn't ask you guys to help me!" I stamped my foot. "I was doing just fine, I broke the genjutsu on my own, see?" I held up my bloody hand. "_See_?"

"If Minato-sensei hadn't materialized in front of you, you'd be dead." Kakashi approached us, staring down at me condescendingly.

"I ducked! I'm not . . ." Minato interrupted me by kneeling in front of me and taking my hand. He examined the wound with knitted eyebrows.

"This is rather deep. Let's have Rin take a look at it."

I jerked my hand out of his grasp. "I'm fine. I can take care of it myself."

He looked surprised, and stood. "We're camped very close to here. Let's head back."

I stood my ground. He and Kakashi walked away, the former throwing a look over his shoulder. "By the way," Minato said. "I've marked you."

"How so?" I frowned.

"Check your hand."

I did. To my complete surprise, there was a line of symbols on the back of my hand that I recognized as the location mark for the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. When did he do that? Right, when I shook his hand. That meant they really had been following me all this time. I hadn't escaped. They'd _let_ me.

I was so angry I couldn't speak. How dare they! How dare they make a fool of me! I was going to get back at them if it was the left thing I did. Especially Minato. But Kakashi also (he still had my headband). Rin was okay. She gave me candy.

I sullenly followed. We walked for about ten minutes (I would have thrown a fit if they'd offered to carry me, and they damn well knew it), and I sulked the whole time. My hand throbbed. God, I hoped I wouldn't get an infection in a place like this.

Rin was sitting on a root when we arrived at the site. She sprang to her feet and rushed to me so fast I didn't have time to react. Girl was quick.

"What happened? Are you okay, Tomoe-kun? That was stupid thing to do, running off like that."

"You might want to take a look at his hand. He stabbed it to get out of a genjutsu." Kakashi commented, going to retrieve his pack.

"Show me." she ordered. I did so, she looked at it, and frowned. "I can heal it. It might take a bit of time, though, it's rather deep."

"Then don't bother. I can take care of it." I said, taking my hand away.

"But Tomoe-kun . . ."

"Let the kid do it." Kakashi said. "If it saves us time."

I glared at him and set my pack down. I sat and rummage through it with one hand, taking out the first-aid kit. Opening it, I took out a needle, a small bottle of alcohol, and some thread. I hated having to do this. It hurt like a son of a bitch, and I didn't have booze to dull the pain.

"You're not going to . . ." Rin protested. Minato looked at me curiously, stepping closer.

"I'll be done soon. I won't hold you guys back." I poured a bit of alcohol on my hand, hissing at the sting. I threaded the needle, a bit awkwardly because of my injury, and got to work.

I'd learned how to stitch a wound in medical school, and then had been in several situations where I didn't have access to a reliable doctor. Some jobs had been more dangerous than others.

I muttered curses under my breath as I drove the needle into my flesh, drew it out, tightened, tied the knot, and started again. The cut was pretty wide. I'd need about five stitches. The pain was awful, but I could bear it. My hands were steady.

After what seemed like hours, I was done. I poured some more alcohol over it, and wrapped it in bandages. I didn't have any painkillers, though.

"Are we going now?" I said bitterly. "I'm tired."

"Tomoe-kun, where did you learn that?" Rin asked, her eyes on my hand.

"Okaa-san taught me." I answered.

"You don't act like a kid, do you?" Kakashi deadpanned.

"Well who asked you?"

"Guys, shouldn't we get a move on? We're expected back in Konoha." Minato put in. "Come here, Tomoe-kun."

I glared at him, huffed, and went over to Kakashi. I tugged on his shirt, and he looked down at me curiously. "What?"

"Carry me."

"Come again?"

"Tomoe-kun . . . wouldn't you rather I . . ." Minato said awkwardly. I shot him a glare and he recoiled.

"I think he's mad at you." Rin observed.

"Seems like it . . ."

So Kakashi carried me, not that he was happy about it. He couldn't act as scout, so Minato went on ahead, and he didn't bother making conversation. I remembered this guy as being a lot more relaxed than this.

Once I was sure he was concentrating fully on his surroundings and ignoring me as much as possible, I acted. He would notice any movement I made, so I didn't try to be sneaky about it. I quickly reached my hand into his pocket. My fingers grazed the metal plaque, my hand closed around it, and withdrew.

"What do you think you're doing, kid?" he said, surprised. He couldn't very well have stopped me without letting me fall twenty feet to a gory death on the forest floor, now could he?

"Got it, Bakashi. Don't steal my stuff again, you got that?"

"Baka . . . don't shorten people's names like that!"

I stuck my tongue out. "Like I care."

"You little brat . . ."

"Hey Minato-san!" I called. He fell back a bit to that he was running level with us. I held up the headband. "You owe me!"

He saw it, was a bit shocked for a moment, then smiled. "You did well, Tomoe-kun. Nice job."

"Didn't I?" I grinned.

"You two, what's going on?" Kakashi grumbled.

"What are you going to give me, Minato-san? Huh, huh?"

"You'll see when we get to Konoha. You can wait a bit, can't you?"

I puffed my cheeks. "Sure, but it better be good!"

"Guys, what's the hold up?" Rin called from over at her position. "We'll be arriving into Konoha territory soon."

"Sorry, Rin. I'm going on ahead." Minato called back. He gave me a last nod and sped up. Kakashi sighed, giving up.

We didn't stop until we'd passed into the forest immediately surrounding the village. We knew because the trees grew to enormous heights, and I completely lost track of where we were. Eventually, we arrived at a wide road leading up to the village gates. At that point Kakashi let me down and we walked up to them. They were closed.

Minato must have done something, because the gates creaked open and allowed us to pass. We stopped at that little desk/shelter thing where we identified ourselves (you know, the one where the indistinguishable chuunin guys were always put on guard duty?). We were sniffed by a dog, and I especially was examined. I had to surrender all the kunai, and suffered the humiliation of them looking through my pack. Once they were sure I was harmless, we were allowed to proceed along, but not without some funny looks thrown my way and some hushed whispers.

I couldn't help but stare as we walked through the village. The buildings looked the same as in the show (though a lot taller from my vantage point), and in the distance loomed the faces of the Hokage carved into the mountain, overshadowing a huge red building with the kanji for fire on it. The sky was beginning to turn pink with the dawn, the sun rising over that majestic mountain like it was setting it on fire.

We passed Ichiraku ramen, not yet open for business but with smoke coming out of the chimney; the dango shop, the barbecue place whose name I never caught, facing the Yamanaka flower shop; the main street leading from the gate to the Academy. The village's infrastructure was colorful with bright tiles and white walls, electric poles, and smoke coming off in the morning air.

Minato watched my wide-eyed reaction with amusement. Kakashi rolled his eye, and Rin giggled.

"What do you think, Tomoe-kun?" Minato asked as we walked.

"It's . . . big. Bigger than I thought."

"I see. Do you like it?"

"So far? It seems like a nice place." It really did. I know I'd been reluctant to come here, but at least I got to see this famous village with my own eyes. No one else from my world could boast about that.

We went inside the Academy, climbed a lot of stairs, and ended up inside a curved hall. I recognized it, and once I figured out where this whole thing was going, I was seized with anxiety. I kinda sorta didn't want to meet the Hokage. Mostly because . . . well . . . he'd be deciding my fate. As we walked down the hall, I imagined what would happen to me from now on. Would I be exiled to some random city? No, maybe I'd be sent to the orphanage? Did I even have relatives? Shit, I was starting to panic, I did not think this through, get me out of here you stupid-God-with-a-warped-sense-of-humor . . .

We stopped, and Minato knocked. I swallowed audibly. He glanced down at me and patted my head. "It will be fine, Tomoe-kun."

We opened the door, and entered the Hokage's office. You've seen it a lot in the anime; the round room with the windows, the desk, the paperwork. And in the middle of it all, the man himself: Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He looked, well, roughly the same as in the anime. Old, but not as old as we first see him, with a wizened face and spiky white hair; he wore white robes with a red shawl, and the Hokage hat sat on his desk beside him. He looked up and cracked a smile when the team entered. He set his pen down, and stood.

"Minato, Kakashi, Rin. I see you've made it back safely."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. How are things at the village?"

"There is unrest, and a great number of injured. Our food and water supplies are holding, though we are starting to run out of medicine and bandages. The medics have their hands full." he sighed. "I hope to put an end to all of this soon."

"Have you received the message about the attack on the border town?"

"Yes, though I am afraid there is little that can be done. The survivors are taking refuge in neighboring towns. We plan to provide as best we can for them until their village can be rebuilt."

"That's good news. And the peace talks? Have they been scheduled yet?"

Hiruzen nodded. "In two weeks' time, delegations from both sides will meet in a village near the border. I can only hope the negotiations go well."

"So do I, Hokage-sama. There is nothing else to report, except for . . ." he stepped to the side. Kakashi nudged me forward.

"We found _this_," Kakashi pressed his finger on the top of my head. "Near the border. We heard about the attack from him."

Under Hiruzen's scrutiny, I blushed and started to fidget. When I dared look up, he was smiling. "Thank you for your help, young one. May I have your name?"

Don't stutter, don't stutter, don't stutter . . . "Himura Tomoe, sir." I said. Way to go, me!

"Himura Tomoko's son, apparently." Kakashi completed for me.

Hiruzen's gaze turned even more intense, observing, analyzing, with such experience I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "And Himura Tomoko? What became of her?"

"She's dead." I piped up. "During the attack."

"I see." he said simply. He then sighed. "Now we know what fate befell her, poor Tomoko. Everyone was shocked when she deserted the village, you know. She was a well-respected kunoichi. I did my best to stop it, but she was classified as a missing-nin despite having committed no other crime. Did she ever tell you the reason she left?"

I shook my head. "No, sir. She never told me she was from here until she gave me this." I pulled out the metal plate. "When she died. Do I have to give it back?"

"You should keep that as a momento of your mother. Have you given some thought into what you wish to do now? We will welcome you if you choose to stay here. You are a child of Konoha, after all."

"I can stay?" I said, stunned. "You're not going to kick me out? Really?"

Hiruzen burst into laughter, probably at my dumb expression.

"I told you," Kakashi said, face-palming.

"Yes, you may stay. You may even become a ninja, if you wish."

"Seriously?"

"Of course. If you graduate, you may even be able to wear Tomoko's headband with pride."

I gave it a bit of thought. I wasn't going to leave, because that would be stupid at this point. Who would give up a place to live? . . . And it's not like they'd let me. So I needed something to occupy my mind. I wanted to regain the skill I had possessed before my death, and maybe even more than that. Training as a ninja might be a good way to do it . . . and if I didn't like it, I could always defect when the village had no more to teach me. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. I needed to face the fact that I was only a child, and submitting myself to a higher authority came with the package . . . for now. It was a bit hard to swallow, but I did it.

"I'll do it." It came out of my mouth very suddenly. "Can I enroll right away? There's no age requirement, right? Right, right?"

My sudden burst of enthusiasm took them all by surprise. Hiruzen started laughing again, and Minato chuckled. Rin smiled, having been silent this whole time, and Kakashi rolled his eye.

"Being a ninja is tough, kid. You might not be able to handle it."

I gritted my teeth. Who did this jerk think he was? Okay, mister jounin-at-twelve, I'll show you. I may be a kid now, but I had the knowledge and life skills of an adult, and of an expert assassin at that. I'd probably killed more people than you, you damn brat.

"I can handle it. Whatever I have to do, I won't have any problem with it. None, Bakashi!" I stuck my tongue at him.

"I'm only trying to warn you, kid." he said, too cool to react. But his eye still twitched. I think the nickname got to him.

"Okay, so," I turned back to the Hokage. "Where can I get the paperwork? I don't need a guardian, right? Oh, where am I going to live?"

"Minato, I'm sorry, but may I ask you to help the boy with the registration? You should rest from your missions."

"I can have him stay at my house until we find an apartment for him. How does that sound, Tomoe-kun?"

"Huh? I figured I'd go to the orphanage . . ."

"The orphanage is rather too far away." The Hokage said. "We provide housing for Academy students without family, an unfortunately not rare case in our world. It won't be much, however."

"Then . . ." I looked up at Minato. "Sure, that sounds goo . . ."

"Hold it." Kakashi said, raising his hand. "I can accommodate him."

"Huh? Why?" I wanted to meet Kushina, she sounded like a fun person. He grabbed me by the back of my shirt, hoisted me a little, and whispered in my ear.

"Those two just got married. You shouldn't disturb them."

"Oooooooh . . ." I nodded slowly. Right, I forgot . . . yeah, it would be awkward for newlyweds to have some random kid in the house. He released me. "I'll go with that, then. Bakashi's house will do."

"You're never going to stop with that, are you?" he deadpanned.

"But it's such a funny name."

He sighed.

"That will settle it then. Minato, I leave his registration to you. Kakashi, please take care of the boy for the time being."

"Yes sir." They said in unison.

"Then you are dismissed. And Tomoe-kun?"

"Yes, sir?" I imitated them.

"Welcome to Konoha."

* * *

Note: 'Bakashi' is Tomoe's contraction of 'Baka-Kakashi' which means roughly 'Stupid-Kakashi.' She thinks it's funny. Kakashi does not.

Also, I intend to diverge from the plot pretty soon. I see no point in rehashing what is already a very good story. How and in what ways, you'll have to see for yourselves!

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, and anything else that might cross your mind? Leave a review!

Peace out.


	5. It was a pinky promise

After that, without messing around, we went to the registration office to get the paperwork taken care of. Rin left us, saying she had to go help out at the hospital. She sternly told me to come by later and get my hand checked out. As if. Weren't they backed up as it was? If I wasn't in a life-threatening situation, I wasn't setting a foot in that place unless it was sneaking in to steal medicine. Why? For my hobby of course! Anything can be turned into a poison, and medicines were often just one chemical change away from curing you to killing you. Also, herbs! Equipment! Ingredients! Heaven! Just not as a patient. Urg.

We sat in the lobby while Minato fetched the paperwork. He gave it to me and told me to fill out as much as I could. I knelt in front of chair, using it as a makeshift table, and got to work.

Name, I could spell it, in kanji no less. Gender. Might as well keep the lie going, I mean, how weird would it be if I got caught now? Age. Minato had said he wasn't going to say anything, and another white lie wouldn't get anyone killed. I put down six, which was as high as I could realistically push it. Parents, name, age, occupation. First was easy, second I had to ask Minato (twenty-nine if you're curious), third I wrote the kanji for 'death.' That would get the message across. Reason for becoming a shinobi? Because I want to acquire as much power as I had before I died and was reincarnated in this world, which was when I was a highly accomplished assassin, very well paid, an expert in poisons and chemicals, and I intend to milk your system for all it's worth. And, by the way, I'm a nutjob.

I put down 'want to follow in my mother's footsteps.' Hope that was cheesy enough for them. Now I just needed to provide a picture. They had a photographer in the building. Apparently, this was registration time for this year's class. It was just too early for anyone to be here, so we had to wake the guy up. He was a bit grumpy, but the job got done. I put on my most serious expression and stood as straight as I could so that no one would doubt my false age.

Picture was attached to the form, form was handed in, and that was that. So easy. The school year would start in three weeks. Things were a bit messed up right now because of the war, and I guessed most teachers had been sent to fight. From what I gathered while listening to the people that started to arrive with their kids, this was the first class to start in two years. They simply didn't have the manpower to train new recruits from scratch, preferring to focus their energy on the older students who'd be graduating soon, in order to prepare them for the front lines.

Since peace talks were in the works, it was logical that the village would start training new ninja immediately. Had to replenish the ranks, no time to lose. Not that I was expecting this year's class to have many people in it. Apart from the shinobi clans, whose kids were guaranteed to enroll, who would send their child to become a ninja after all this?

Next, was getting the apartment taken care of. That was at a different desk. When asked by the nice lady if I had a preference, I gave it some thought, and answered that I wanted something with good ventilation, and an extra room with no windows if possible. That seemed to startle her a bit, but she ran the paperwork through and told us to come back in two weeks, when I would be assigned a place.

When we stepped out of the Academy building, it was almost noon.

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" Minato said.

I perked up. "Yeah! I'm starving!" I started to run in the direction of the main shopping street, when I was caught by the back of my shirt, again.

"Minato-sensei, I'll take him. You go see Kushina."

Minato flushed. "Thank you, Kakashi. Then, I'll be off. Have fun!" He disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi and I were left alone.

"So," he said. "Do you want anything in particular?"

"Nah. I'll follow you."

So I did. The atmosphere was decisively awkward, as none of us talked. I, on one hand, couldn't think of a suitable topic, so I kept my mouth shut. He seemed to think it wasn't worth speaking to a kid. We walked for about ten minutes, and the streets were starting to fill up. He ended up picking a small Izakaya, a type of Japanese restaurant that mostly sold yakitori and alcohol. It was also really cheap, which might have been an important consideration.

The inside was small, with low lighting and several booths were we were seated. I hopped on the chair and, annoyed, saw that my feet dangled way above the ground. Kakashi ordered for the both of us, and since there was no one else around, the food arrived pretty quickly. That was good, because I was starving.

I stared at the sticks of grilled meat in front of me, hardly daring to believe it. Real food. Not only that, but real _meat_. Back at the village with Tomoko, we _never_ had meat.

"What is it? You should have said something if you didn't like yakitori." Kakashi said.

"That's not it. I've never had meat before. Okaa-san and I only had tofu and vegetables. A bit of fish, too." I picked a stick up reverently.

"You were that poor?"

"Uh-huh. Okaa-san didn't work." I took a bite and shivered. Juicy, flavorful, smoky, with that wonderful texture . . . this was _undoubtedly_ meat. "This is so good!"

I took a couple more bites, not paying attention to Kakashi. When I looked up, I saw that he had finished eating, and his mask was still on. "How do you eat with that thing on? Do you ever take it off?" I asked.

"Are you sure your mother never told you why she left the village?" he side-stepped my question.

"Nope. Guess we'll never know now. I wish people would stop asking. I don't know, honest." I bit down on the last of the skewers.

"And you're really going to become a shinobi?"

"Sure, why not? Got nothing better to do."

"Is that the only reason?"

When I glanced up at him, I saw his eye peering very intently at me. I gulped, and set down the stick. "Well . . . You could say I want to become stronger. And I want to follow in my mother's footsteps. There are worse reasons for wanting to become a ninja." Yeah, like my real one, I thought drily. But I wasn't going to _say_ it.

He stared at me for a moment, then got up. He got his wallet out and deposited some money on the table, before walking out. I scrambled down the bench and ran after him.

Our next stop was his house. Well, it was more of an apartment complex, but a pretty nice one. It was on the top floor, and had a bedroom, a kitchen/living room, and a bathroom, the kind with a tub and separate shower that Japanese people use. While he put his stuff away I ran around exploring. I checked in the cupboards, peeked my head into the bathroom, ran back to the entrance with its shoe rack, before dashing into his room, my feet skidding a little on the wood floor.

"So, where do I sleep?" I asked. This was . . . kind of exciting. I would get to sleep indoors for the first time in almost a month. And there was a bath. Gee yippee! I wondered what I would do for clean clothes.

He was sitting on his bed, unpacking his ninja gear and checking everything. I knelt down to get a closer look. Kunai, shuriken, paper bombs, sealing scrolls, soldier pills, a small medical kit (Rin's gift), Minato's special kunai, a book . . . Not much. Utilitarian. I grabbed the book and flipped it open. He took it out of my hands immediately.

"That's not for children." He said.

"What? Why not?"

I thought I saw him flush behind his mask. "Do you even know how to read?"

"I knew enough to fill out the form. Now gimmee!" I reached over him. He lifted the item out of reach. I climbed over his lap and stretched my arm out.

"Get off me, kid!"

"Then gimmee!"

"I'll give you a kunai, how does that sound? They took yours at the gate, didn't they?"

"Oh. Okay, sure." I climbed off. He handed me the weapon. I ran my thumb over the edge, and frowned. I raised an eyebrow at him. "You just gave me a dull knife. What am I supposed to do with a dull knife?"

"Target practice?" He suggested, and eyebrow raised equally high.

He had a point.

The rest of the day he rested, so I snuck out. I was pretty sure I'd be able to find my way back, and I needed to see where the library was. I asked for directions a couple of times, and made it there pretty easily. The inside was like any other library, huge shelves of books, tables and chairs, and a reception desk on the first floor. To start with, I asked where I could find a dictionary. I found one easily, and moved on to the rest. Kakashi might get suspicious if I got books on herbs and poisons, so I got one on chakra control. Hey, start with the basics.

The scroll I found was geared towards Academy students, so the language was easy enough to understand. I checked it out along with the dictionary. Before leaving I browsed through the medical section and located several volumes that would prove valuable. I got engrossed in them, so I didn't notice the time. There were so many more herbs here than I would have thought, and with so many different uses! It would be so much fun to learn about all of them, and figure out how I could apply them to my 'hobby.' The only problem was the kanji used.

It was dark already when I left. I was surprised, and hurried back to Kakashi's place. The village was lit up with tiny lights coming from the windows, but not enough to block out the starry sky above. The streets were empty, the air cold; my breath clouded in front of me as I walked, carrying the books in my arms. I stopped to look up.

It was like magic. I'd never been able to really appreciate this world's sky before, or even my own world's sky. Despite how much I had traveled, it was mostly in cities, or industrialized areas; I was a child of the twenty-first century, born when the night was already blinded by the lights of man. I would never have thought anything could be so beautiful. Shining so brightly, scattered so thickly I couldn't take them all in, the stars filled the heavens like holes pricked into the black sky, the light shining from a place beyond our reach.

I set aside my idle speculations, and started to walk again, then broke into a jog to warm up a bit. If anything else, it might have been worth it to come back, if only for this sight. That was a brief thought that crossed into my mind. It was strange. I'd thought that I'd attained just about everything in my lifetime.

The lights were still on when I got to Kakashi's apartment. I knocked timidly, and pushed the door in. I set down my books to take off my sandals, and smelled something nice. I retrieved my books and snuck into the kitchen. The table was set for two, with rice, miso soup, grilled fish, and a side of vegetables. It was simple, but it smelled really good. My stomach growled.

"What were you doing out so late?" Kakashi asked, taking a seat. "Hurry up, it's getting cold."

"Ah, right." I flushed slightly. I put my books on the table and climbed into my chair, having to jump a little. "Itadakimasu." I chanted, and picked up my chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu." he said, and we ate. Again, he managed to eat without me seeing his face. He was really sneaky like that.

"I'm surprised you know how to cook. I thought for sure you'd be living on instant ramen or something." I took a bite of fish. "It's really good, too!"

"Proper nutrition is essential in developing a healthy body, and by extension a healthy mind. That's shinobi 101. Remember it, kid. You'll be living on your own."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." I could cook . . . sort of. I'd learned in college, but my skills had rusted once I'd become an assassin. With the kind of money I made, I could afford just about anything I wanted to eat. No sense in cooking it myself. Ah, how I longed for steak . . .

"Do you?"

"Huh-huh." I said hastily.

His eyes wandered to the books I'd left on the table. "Are you going to start studying already?"

"Yeah. It's never too early to get a head start."

He looked at me expectantly, his chopsticks in the air. "Are you going to be practicing here?"

"Where else? Oh, don't worry, I won't screw up your apartment. I'll be molding chakra to start with. Once I have the basics down, I think I'll try a transformation jutsu first. Huuuum . . . do you know a place where I can do some target practice?"

"There's a training ground close to here." He sounded rather disappointed.

"Your tone is odd." I commented. I was done with my meal. "Whatever. Gochisousamadeshita." I clapped my hands together.

"Are you sure you can do it on your own?" Kakashi said, putting down his own chopsticks. He'd been done for a while.

"Yeah, why not?" I frowned.

"Learning how to control chakra isn't easy, especially at the beginning. You might benefit from some guidance."

"Like a sensei? That'd be great, actually."

"Then I . . ."

"Oh, can I use your bathroom?" I cut in. "I've been dying for a hot bath. And some clothes would be great, just until I can wash these." I plucked at my shirt. It was a grubby mess after weeks out in the forest.

" . . . Are you sure you're six?"

"No. I'm actually in my late twenties." I said with a straight face.

He rolled his eyes. "Go ahead. I'll find something you can wear."

"Great, thank you so much!" I hoped down and bowed in his direction. "I will be eternally grateful to you, oh wise scarecrow."

"Just go already!"

I hurried to the bathroom. It was small, tiled in white, with a bathtub, shower, stool, and no windows. I went in and drew a bath. There was soap and shampoo . . . guess that hair needed maintaining. I snickered.

I stripped while the water ran. My dirty shirt and pants had to be peeled off my skin, it was terribly gross. My underwear was also awful, but they were the only ones I had, so I quickly washed them in the sink with lots of soap and very hot water. They wouldn't be dry, but wet was better than dirty in my book. I couldn't very well ask to borrow Kakashi's, now could I? Imagine how _that_ conversation would go.

I hung them over the sink, turned the bath water off, noticing that it was the perfect temperature, and turned on the shower. I sat on the stool and rinsed myself off. The hot water felt like heaven against my skin, though my hand stung a bit; I'd have to remember to disinfect it again when I was done. I washed myself off, until the water ran clear, and proceeded to take care of my hair . . . my short, badly cut, obnoxiously red hair.

When I was done, I was so refreshed I felt like a new person. I stood up, ready to take a nice soak in the bathtub, when I heard Kakashi's voice.

"Tomoe-kun? I have some clothes, and a towel. I'm coming in."

I . . . really didn't have time to do much except freeze. The door slid open. Kakashi stood, holding a bundle of cloth. Our eyes met. There was a short pause. He scanned me from top to bottom. He cleared his throat.

"I'll leave these outside."

" . . . sure."

He slammed the door shut. I stood very still, dripping wet. I looked down at myself. Was there any chance he didn't notice? As if. I wasn't upset with being seen naked. I was a kid, for crying out loud. But I'd been pretending to be a boy . . . that must have come as quite a shock to him. Was this a bad thing for me? Was he going to tell the Hokage?

I slapped my hands on my cheeks. Why was I making so big of a deal out of this? There wasn't really any need to keep my gender secret anymore. I'd kept the lie going for kicks, anyway. But still, I should have seen this coming. I was too lax in my role. If this was an undercover mission, I'd be dead by now.

Oh no. My skills have rusted! Oh, the horror! "Kill me now . . ." I groaned. I looked back at the tub of steaming water. Might as well take a friggin dip. Not like it would make much of a difference at this point.

So I soaked, for a good half hour. A good part about this was that Kakashi wasn't going to come in to tell me to hurry it up. I'll bet he was staying as far away from this room as he possibly could.

Once I was completely relaxed, my thoughts were clear and I was confident I could approach this with the dignity required of an expert assassin. I opened the door just a crack, and snatched the stuff he'd brought me. I dried off, put my underwear back on and checked out the clothes he'd seen fit to lend me. Gray shorts (or what would be shorts for him), and a black t-shirt with thick white stripes on the sleeves. I pulled them on. The bottoms came down to my shins, and the t-shirt sagged so much my collarbone was visible. I could smell Kakashi's scent on these.

I folded up my dirty clothes, and stepped out, closing the door behind me. I padded into the bedroom. Kakashi was sitting on his bed, his face in one hand. I went up to him.

"The bath is there, if you want it." I said. He looked up at me, eye narrowed. I gulped. Oh shit, he's pissed.

"Why don't you take a seat? We need to have a little talk, Tomoe-_chan_."

Uh-oh, he's angry! I climbed up on the bed and sat facing him with my legs crossed. "Wassup?" I said.

"Care to tell me why you thought it was a good idea to lie to us?"

I thought about it. "Technically speaking, I didn't lie."

"Oh, didn't you now?"

"I never _said_ I was a boy. You guys assumed, and I didn't correct you. If you want, you could say I omitted the truth, which is not the same as lying."

He rolled his eye. "But you deliberately made yourself look like a boy. I thought you just had a bad haircut, but that wasn't it."

"Nope, I cut it myself. It was my first time, so it didn't come out too good. Anyway," I shrugged. "It served its purpose. It fooled everybody."

"_Why_?"

I looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I was traveling on my own. I thought it would be safer if people thought I was a boy."

"You're six, how do these thoughts even enter your mind?" He face-palmed.

"Don't ask me. I've always been a bit precocious."

"And you never told us, because . . ."

"I don't know. I guess I wanted to see how long I could keep it up." I shrugged again. "It's not like lives depend on which gender I am."

"I supposed that's true. To some extent."

"Are you going to tell on me?"

He thought about it. I sat very still under his scrutiny. "If you don't ever call me _that _again, I'll keep your secret."

"That? What?"

"You know. That silly nickname."

"Oh, you mean 'Bakashi?'"

"Yes, that." he snapped, annoyed.

"Fine. Pinky swear." I held out my finger. He rolled his eye and intertwined his with mine. "I swear, and if I lie, I'll swallow one thousand needles and cut my finger off. And break." I chanted.

"So, where do I sleep?" I said, stretching. I yawned. I was getting tired.

"You can take the bed." he said, getting up.

"Hey, now, that's not nice!"

" . . . you have a different definition of nice?"

"Don't treat me differently just 'cause you found out I'm a girl!"

"Look here, kid . . ."

"I'm not listening to you! I'll sleep on the floor. Gimmee a blanket."

"I don't have any extra. I was going to let you sleep there in any case."

I felt rather stupid. I flushed, and crossed my arms. "I don't mind sharing the bed. I don't take up much room. Besides," I turned my head away. "I'd feel bad if you didn't get any sleep on my account."

"I'd rather not." he said.

Offended, I replied. "If you don't sleep in the damn bed, I'm sleeping on the floor and telling Rin you made me."

He glared. "Fine. But don't steal all the covers or kick me in your sleep, got it?"

I nodded. "Then I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning."

"Wait, already?"

I was having trouble keeping my eyes open at this point, so I nodded, yawned, and crawled under the covers. "G'night . . . Bakashi."

"Hey, we had a deal."

"Sorry, last time, I promise."

I fell asleep almost immediately. I was exhausted by the day's events, and my small body needed a good night's sleep. I was fed, clean, and warm for the first time since Tomoko had woken me up and ran out of our village to escape the attackers. I kinda . . . regretted those days. I wouldn't have minded them continuing for a bit longer . . . just a little bit longer.

I half-woke up when I felt a weight on the bed, and a figure got underneath the covers.

"Now that I think of it," the person said. "'Tomoe' is a girl's name."

And now that I thought about it, from deep within the realm of slumber, my name had been a boyish one . . . but what was it again? I couldn't really remember. I hadn't thought about it in a very long time. That was alright. The name I had now was suitable. Besides, all that really mattered in my profession was the code name; my real name had been changed so many times I had never thought about it much.

I would never forget my code name. Not ever. That was who I really way. The only constant measure of my identity.

* * *

Notes: yakitori is grilled chicken on a stick;'itadakimasu' and 'gochisousamadeshita', meaning literally 'I humbly receive' and 'It was a feast' are traditionally said before and after a meal, respectively; '-chan' in similar fashion as '-kun' is generally used for young girls and close female friends; what Tomoe chants when she's making the promise is called 'yubikiri' (finger cut-off), and I used a more or less literal translation of the song.

Now, a question that popped up a lot is when Tomoe's true gender will be revealed. Let's see . . . many of the plot ideas I have revolve around them not finding out for a good long while. I'd rather keep it under wraps for the time being. It's a good source of potential comedy and drama. That said, I intend to consider reader input. If everybody hates the idea, I'll consider revealing it.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, random thoughts? Leave a review!

Peace out.


	6. It was a chocolate taiyaki

The bed next to me was empty when I woke up, and light was passing through the curtains and over my eyes. I got up, scratched my head and yawned. I'd slept pretty well. I wandered over to the kitchen. Kakashi wasn't there, but there was a note on the table.

I read it with a bit of difficulty, but he hadn't used any kanji so I could understand all of it. "Tomoe, I have business to take care of. There's a key under the doormat." I read out loud. "So, I'm supposed to fend for myself? Charming."

I raided the kitchen for something to eat. There was leftover rice from last night, so I made rice balls; I ate a couple for breakfast and wrapped up the rest for later, putting them in my pack. I pocketed the kunai, just in case.

Today was exploration, baby.

I got myself ready to leave. Before that, though, I washed my clothes to the best of my abilities and left them to dry on the bathtub. I suddenly remembered the yukata I still had. I pulled it out. I'd folded it correctly, so it wasn't even wrinkled. If I was willing to part with my lie, I could wear it again. I was rather fond of it, since it had been given to me by Tomoko, and I'd gotten used to moving around in it. After a moment's consideration, I decided against it. Kakashi wouldn't tell (I hoped) and I really wanted to see how long I could keep it up.

So I put it back, pulled my sandals on, and went out to explore the big, bright place that was Konohagakure.

There were a fair number of people around. Small as I was, I went unnoticed, flickering though the crowd. I saw a lot of things that looked interesting, shops and stalls and all that, but I refrained from stopping, only marking them mentally. The purpose of this exercise was to create a mental map of the village; I didn't have time to stop and window shop . . . though I was tempted by one that sold nice clothes, not that I could afford or wear them as I was.

Around noon I stopped in a park to eat my rice balls. I sat on a bench, under the shade of large trees. It was quite warm today, and it felt very pleasant with the slight breeze and bit of sunshine that filtered through the leaves. The only noise came from the middle of the park, where two boys were practicing basic martial arts moves. They were around my age, with black hair and large red and white fans on the backs of their dark blue shirts . . . wait a friggin minute.

Didn't they look kind of familiar? No, must be my imagination. This life was already too nutty, no way I this was happening. Nope, no way. I was seeing things. Maybe Kakashi had spiked my food last night?

While I was convincing myself I was crazy, the two switched to target practice using a tree that happened to be right next to the bench I was on. They seemed to be making a challenge out of it, seeing who could hit the target most often. They seemed to get along really well. You could have mistaken them for brothers.

Unconsciously, old habits kicked in and I watched the play of knives out of the corner of my eye. You didn't survive long as an assassin if you didn't watch out for sharp object flying around you.

I was about to leave, still pretending that I didn't recognize them because I was sure my life would be easier that way, when they both threw kunai at the same time. They hit each other in midair. One spun towards me.

"Look out!"

One thought, and one thought only, passed through my mind.

God, I hope these kids practice with blunt kunai.

I yelped and sprang out of the way, falling off the bench in the process. The kunai hit the spot where I had just been, and the two came running over.

"Are you okay?" said the first. He had short unkempt hair and slightly slanted eyes in a friendly face. "We didn't see you there . . ."

I got to my feet and dusted myself off. I was furious. "You idiot! Watch where you're aiming that! You could put someone's eye out!" I yelled. "Use the training grounds, that's what they're there for! And check your surroundings, what are you, amateurs?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry . . ."

"I hope that thing wasn't sharpened . . . was it?"

"Uuuuh . . ." He rubbed the back of his head.

I face-palmed. I don't care if they _were_ Uchiha, kids will always be kids. They would be around five at the moment. Yep, little brats. No use getting riled up, take the high ground. "I _guess_ it's fine. I should have moved when I saw you throwing sharp stuff right next to me." I sighed, and looked down. My lunch was ruined.

"We apologize." The second kid, a cute boy with bangs framing his face and dark hair noticeably longer than the other, pressed his hand on his head and made his bow alongside him. "We should have been more careful. Come on, Shisui, apologize."

"We're very sorry about almost cutting you. And about your lunch."

"It's okay . . ." One thing I hated about this world. People bowing. I hated doing it, and I hated people doing it to me. It just felt awkward. Cultural differences and all.

Now, I would have expected to get nervous at the sight of one of the most powerful and handsome characters in a series I had once been into, but I just couldn't. He was a kid. Sure, he looked like a miniature version of his former self, but with all the emotional scars, horrible events, and life-changing decisions stripped away. He had a kind of innocence about him, which made being impressed with seeing him in person extremely hard. He certainly was much less intimidating.

I tugged the kunai out of the bench and offered it to them hilt first (for the record, yeah, it was sharpened). "Here. Whose is it?"

They looked at each other. "It had to be yours, Itachi." said Shisui with a grin. "I wouldn't mess up like that."

"I could say the same to you, Shisui. Are you going to take it?"

"Why should I? It's yours. You take it."

"But it isn't mine. You lost control of it." said Itachi.

"My skills are better than that."

"Why don't we test it? The one who misses the most shots has to admit to having thrown the stray kunai."

"That's a great idea. Best out of five? I have to be back in an hour."

"That's a deal."

They smiled at each other. Great, a healthy rivalry. Gag me with a spoon.

"I hate to interrupt you," I said, spinning the kunai around my finger. "But it's yours." I pointed at Itachi. "I saw you throw it. However," I cut through Shisui's grin. "You were the one whose kunai was on a wrong trajectory to begin with. You nearly impaled me. Dummy."

"You saw it all?" Itachi said curiously. I handed him the knife. "You have a good eye."

"It was a good show. I don't know how to throw kunai yet."

"You're enrolling this year? At the Academy?" Shisui said, recovered from his quick bout of depression.

"Yeah. I'm new to Konoha. I submitted the papers yesterday."

"Then we'll be in the same class! I'm Uchiha Shisui, nice to meet you!" He extended his hand. I shook it gravely.

"I can't say the circumstances are the best, but sure, nice to meet you. I'm Himura Tomoe."

"That's a girly name."

"You opinion is unwanted." I snapped.

"I was just kidding." He elbowed his companion, who stepped forward and also extended his hand. I took it.

"Uchiha Itachi." he said. "I hope we'll get along."

Oh, sweetie, we probably won't, but thanks for the sentiment. "So do I." And we let go.

"So, Tomoe," said Shisui. What, no honorifics? "Do you want to train with us? To make up for . . . well, everything?"

"Sure. I was going to try throwing kunai anyway."

"Great, I can show you."

Shisui showed me how to hold the kunai and how to throw it. It was differed from a regular knife; generally, throwing knives were heavier on one end so that they'd rotate when you threw them. Kunai were evenly balanced and had a straight trajectory. This meant that the throwing method was different, how you gripped it, and the motion you made when releasing it. With a normal knife, you'd draw an arc going from top to bottom, timing your release and the amount of force so it the number of rotations and the trajectory made it reach the target. Kunai had to be thrown a bit differently.

My first shot didn't go very far. Not enough force. The second strayed to the left and planted harmlessly into the ground. The third grazed the tree. I had trouble generating such complicated movements with this body; if I had been in my old one, this would have been a piece of cake. I couldn't have become an expert assassin if I hadn't possessed some skill.

"That's not bad, Tomoe. You're doing great!" Shisui said, as I missed, again.

I didn't answer, and tried to figure out how to do this. What exact motion should I use? How much force? I was calm, thinking rationally. If I was trying to kill somebody . . . no, I wouldn't use a throwing knife for that. It wouldn't do lethal damage. But if the blade was poisoned . . .

That was it! All I had to do was imagine the blade was poisoned. I'd done it before, only I'd made sure to stab directly. It wasn't my favorite method, as it involved getting up close and personal with the target, but it came in handy sometimes. Even a small needle could inject a lethal dose, if you picked your poison carefully.

I took a deep breath. Shisui looked at me curiously. I ignored him. I concentrated everything I had on the tree. In my mind, I pretended I was in a crowded street. Little room to maneuver, little change of being seen by the busy people, target in sight, moving slowly; two bodyguards, carrying guns; direct approach, too risky. I had to throw. Distance, five meters. Aim for the upper back to be sure to get a hit in.

Move with the crowd, left, right, stop, too close. Watch. How many people are in the way? Too many, have to wait for an opening. Don't mess up. You've only got one shot. Even a nick is good, but you need enough force to get through his coat. Ready? Line of sight, clear. Quick, reach for the knife, grab, throw. One smooth motion, no wasted movement, no wasted time. One, two, go!

I opened my eyes, fantasy blurring with reality, and threw. I knew I'd gotten it right. The blade buried in the target's arm, and fell out. I blinked, clearing my vision, and saw the kunai on the ground. It hadn't stuck in the tree.

"Try again, Tomoe. You almost had it." Shisui encouraged me. But I smiled. If this had been a real life job, I'd have succeeded. The target would be falling ill and would be dead within a week as his wound festered. That was all I needed. There was no need to be perfect, as long as the job got done. Of course, this didn't apply to using poison. That was my 'hobby,' after all.

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to stop for today." I said, handing the kunai back to him. "I was going to work on chakra control, so I want to keep my strength."

"Can you use chakra?"

"No, but I have a book that explains it. I was going to give that a try."

"We can use chakra." Itachi said from his position on the bench. "We can show you."

"Yeah, we're the best around! You can't do better than us!"

"Can you guys really teach me anything?" I asked suspiciously.

"Sure we can! Look." He made the Tiger handsign and raised his two fingers to his mouth, taking a deep breath. "Fire style, Fireball jutsu!"

He spit out a thin puff of fire that smoked and dissolved. I raised an eyebrow. Shisui's cheeks colored. Itachi choked a grin behind a cough.

" . . . At least you can use chakra . . ." I said. "That's pretty good."

He perked right up and grabbed my hands. "Isn't it? I bet I can teach you the jutsu in one day!"

" . . . I don't think that's possible."

"He's right, Shisui. You can't expect someone that's never used chakra to master the Fireball jutsu in one day." Itachi got up and came over to us. He patted him on the shoulder.

"Okay . . ." he looked rather dejected. Now that I thought about it, he hadn't been given much screen time. I hardly knew anything about him, and his personality was a mystery, though one that was becoming more transparent.

I figure I might as well cheer him up. "I'd be glad for you to teach me how to use chakra." I proposed. "I can't say how fast I'll catch on, but . . ."

"Really? Tomoe, you're the best!" He threw his arm around my shoulder and ground his knuckles into my head. "You can call me Shisui-sensei! Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm six," I gasped, trying to extract myself from him. Friendly, much?

"No way, you're older than us!" Buddy, you have no idea.

"Can we get started already?" I said.

"Tomoe's right. We have to be back soon. Let's get started."

And so Itachi took over the lesson. I listened as he gave me the rundown on the basics of chakra, the mix in different proportions of physical and spiritual energy, and how to increase both. He told me the best way to practice molding chakra was to meditate and improve my concentration. There was a delicate balance between molding enough chakra and effectively controlling it that was difficult to find, and only came from practice and experience. It's not something that could just be taught in one day (he shot a sidelong glance at Shisui). Essentially, I had a long road ahead of me.

He walked me through the steps of molding chakra. He arranged my fingers in the proper handsign, and told me to concentrate on the middle of my stomach, where the chakra coils were. I had to draw physical energy in from every cell in my body and spin it, mixing it with spiritual energy, to form a mass of chakra in my stomach.

It was hard work. No amount of theory could help here. I concentrated, losing track of my surroundings, the warm energy in my core taking all of my attention. It wobbled and dispersed a couple of times as I messed up the energy proportions, and was rather tiny, but my concentration was impeccable. That was to be expected. Mental skills were the ones you always kept, no matter what happened to your body. Now, I just had to get a feel for the proportions . . .

Once I could create that little bit of chakra and felt confident enough that I could keep it under control, I opened my eyes, and grinned at the boys. They were watching me.

"What's next?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, and Shisui's eyes were a bit wide, but the former handed me a leaf.

"This is a basic chakra control exercise. Try to concentrate all your chakra on the leaf."

I took the leaf from him. I remembered, this was an ancient training exercise, the inspiration for the headband design of Konoha. I suddenly felt . . . kinda guilty. My ambition had nothing to do with protecting the village; it was all for myself. Even so, everyone saw me as a child, one of the future protectors of Konoha, the King to be protected. I was none of those. What right did I have to wear that headband?

My mouth twisted and my eyes glazed over as I stared at the leaf in my hand. Why was I thinking about this now? I'd never cared about something as abstract as a village before. Maybe it was because I'd given up my identity when I plunged into the underground. I'd never regretted that, not once, so why was I . . .

"Tomoe?" Itachi's voice jerked me out of those odd thoughts.

"Y-yeah?" I stuttered. He looked at me gravely.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing much. Thanks for the training, boys. I . . . I have to get back now."

I took a step back, stuffing the leaf in my pocket. Shisui looked grave. "Are you sure? We still have a bit of time . . ."

"No," I interrupted them. "Thanks, but I really have to go. Thanks . . . sorry about taking up so much of your time." I took another step back.

"It was no trouble . . ."

"Bye!" I said hastily, whirling around and dashing off. As I ran, I heard him call after me.

"Stop by the Uchiha compound sometime! We can train some more!"

I left the park and ran down the street. I ran into a man and was nearly knocked back, so distracted I kept going without stopping to apologize. Where should I go? I couldn't head back to Kakashi's like this. I was so confused. Why was I having seconds thoughts . . . wait, was that it? Was I feeling guilty over using Konoha and planning to abandon it? That couldn't be true. Yet, the feeling as I thought about the leaf made me sick.

I kept running until I reached another park. This one was deserted, with swings and a sandbox; I recognized it from the show. I needed to catch my breath. I was breathing too heavily, and was starting to sweat. I sat heavily on the swings, and scratched my feet in the gravel.

This wasn't the right place for me. I was an assassin. I worked alone, for my own benefit, neither caring nor being cared for. I lived only for myself. This village was strange. I'd only been here for a day, yet it felt warm and familiar, like home. Like the rundown little house in the nameless village where Tomoko had raised me.

I unconsciously curled inward, keeping my face down, and started to hyperventilate. This had to be a sick joke. This wasn't me. These feelings of guilt, of sadness, of hollowness didn't belong to me, so why did I have to feel them? Christ, this was pathetic. A grown woman, a heartless assassin who cared only about her own comfort, losing her calm something as trivial as how a village treated her.

I would have felt better if they'd kicked me out.

I heard footsteps, and the chain on the swing next to me rattled.

"There you are, kid. I've been looking for you." Kakashi said. I didn't answer. "Where did you run off too?"

"Nowhere, I was just exploring a bit." I peeked to the side through my bangs. Kakashi was looking up at the sky.

"Is that so? And what did you think?"

"I hate this place." I said without feeling.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I don't know." I said evasively.

"Let me guess. You feel like you don't belong . . . like you shouldn't be here in the first place."

I bit my lip. I _wasn't_ supposed to be here. I was supposed to be burning in hell. "Maybe you're right." I mumbled.

"Now why would you think that?"

"Like I'd know. Bakashi."

"Hey, we had a deal."

"Sorry. It slipped out."

He sighed. "You'll get used to it. It can't be easy, losing your mother and having to come here with a bunch of strangers. But I can assure you that this is where you're supposed to be. No matter what happened before, you're a child of Konoha. So stop crying, kid. You don't need to worry about being here."

I sat up abruptly and touched my hands to my cheeks. They came away wet. My vision was blurry. My eyes burned a bit. Was I crying? That couldn't be right. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd cried.

Kakashi observed me lazily. "What, didn't you realize you were crying?"

I turned slightly to him, and his eye widened when he saw how completely stunned I was. His posture became stiff, as if realizing that he had no idea what to do.

My hands curled into fists. I angrily swiped at my eyes. "I'm not crying," I choked out. "I'm not."

He was silent. I tried to get ahold of myself, but I couldn't stop the tears from coming out. I pressed my arms over my face to hide it. Being seen like this, how humiliating. Kakashi must think I'm an idiot. Who cries like this out of nowhere?

"Hey, Tomoe?"

"What," I hiccupped. "No honorifics?"

"You like sweet stuff, right?"

"Y-yeah." I sniffled. "Yeah, I do. I like it a lot."

"When you stop crying, I'll get you a snack on the way home. Sounds good to you?"

A fresh wave of tears had burst upon me, so I couldn't talk. I nodded dumbly.

It was forever until I could stand properly. I kept thinking I was fine, only to have Kakashi point out that I was crying again. I could never tell.

Finally, I was alright. My face felt hot, my eyes burned, I was tired and thirsty. I couldn't see too well, so I kept my eyes on the back on Kakashi's shirt as we walked. He led me through one of the less crowded areas, and took my hand to keep me from getting lost when we got to the main streets. He stopped at a street vendor and let go of my hand while he made the transaction. I looked down at the ground, my mind blank.

"Tomoe." I looked up to see Kakashi handing me a fish shaped pastry wrapped in paper. I recognized it. Taiyaki.

"Thank you." I said as I took it. He nodded.

I ate it in small bites while we walked back to his apartment. It was sweet and filling, like a chocolate filled pancake. I was happy he'd gotten this kind. I liked chocolate better than azuki bean paste.

* * *

Notes: Taiyaki is a kind of fish-shaped pastry, usually filled with azuki (red bean) paste, but can also contain a bunch of different stuff. Tomoe commenting about the lack of honorifics stems from the fact that in Japanese society removing the honorific is usually done only with very close friends, and is otherwise not very polite. Tomoe is familiar with this having spent some time in Japan. The thing is, when you watch the Naruto show in Japanese, they don't really use honorifics that much, especially the younger characters. It might not be weird for them, but Tomoe is mentally a lot older, and being addressed without a honorific feels off to her because of the context she has for their use. -Kun might be mostly for boys, but it beats out nothing. If she had a choice, Tomoe would prefer '-san' or '-sama.'

Now, answers to some interesting questions I got in the reviews:

-About Tomoe's code name, yes, I will reveal it. That's one of the plot bunnies that was chewing at my brain.

-Am I going to do a time skip? No, maybe, yes, who knows? It would be convenient, but writing Tomoe as a kid is a lot of fun. We'll see.

-Pairing wise, keep in mind that she's still young. Those who are familiar with my stories know that I prefer to take a more devil-may-care approach to romance, so I have no idea in what direction I will go. I'll consider reader input, of course, but in the end it depends on which way my brain chooses to wander.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, random thoughts, epiphanies? Leave a review!

Peace out.


	7. It was a loss at shiritori

I went to sleep as soon as we got back. I was exhausted from crying so much. I finally remembered the last time I'd cried. It was back when I was a child, in my old life, maybe when I was around the same age as I was now. I had cried myself to sleep on a winter night, but I couldn't remember what for. It had to have been something major, but it slipped away from me as I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Kakashi was reading a scroll on his desk. He wore his usual mask, with a gray shirt and black pants. He glanced behind me when he heard me yawn.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, rolling up the scroll.

I rubbed my eyes. They felt a bit dry, and I had no doubt I had deep circles under my eyes. "I'm going to wash my face," I said, pushing the cover back and climbing out of bed.

"Take a bath, while you're at it. You went to sleep without one last night." I nodded as I passed him. "Your clothes are dry, too. I'll let you keep the ones you have on. You need more than one outfit."

"Are you sure?"

"I've outgrown those."

"Okay."

I went and cleaned myself up. I didn't bother with a full bath, only showering and changing into my clean clothes. While I was doing that, I noticed something odd, but only stopped to check after I was done. I unwrapped the bandage around my hand. It was tender, and my wrist was sore. The skin around the stitches was red and inflamed, and the wound itself was even worse. There was no sign of scabbing, and yellow pus was collecting at the site.

I felt my forehead. A bit warm. I definitely felt drowsy and a bit dizzy, which I had attributed to yesterday's crying spell. I leaned against the wall.

"Great . . . Rin's going to kill me."

I came out of the bathroom and stopped next to Kakashi. He was studying another scroll now. He looked down at me. "What? Are you hungry?"

" . . . Can you tell me where the hospital is?" I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the desk.

"What for?"

I held up my hand.

"Let me see." He took it and inspected it. His gaze returned to me, eyebrow raised. He poked it.

"Ow."

"You do know Rin is going to kill you."

" . . . Just tell me where it is."

I insisted I could find it by myself, but Kakashi insisted on taking me. The building looked the same as it did in the show, but the inside was way busier. Nurses managed the influx of patients, clearing the way for those in life-threatening conditions; there was an incredible amount of noise, but there was also order. It was effectively managed, so there wasn't much chaos. I went straight for the front desk, determined to handle this on my own.

"Excuse me?" I had to waved my hand for her to notice me.

"What can I do for you, dear?" she smiled wearily, continuing to organize papers and log information about who came in and out. I felt sorry for her.

"I have an infected cut. What do I do?"

"Infected cut, you say?" she pulled out a form and quickly scratched something down. "Can I have your name?"

"Himura Tomoe."

She wrote it down in Hiragana to go faster. "You'll have to wait a bit, Tomoe-kun. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Is Rin around? Nohara Rin?"

"She's on break right now . . . are you a friend of hers?"

"We both are." I heard Kakashi's voice. He leaned his hand on my head. The nurse smiled, evidently recognizing him.

"Kakashi-san! You should have come up earlier, I would have let you right in. This must be the boy she was expecting?" she looked down at me with interest. "The one who stitched up his own wound?"

"That's Tomoe. Can we go see her?"

"Yes, go right on ahead. Rin is in room 5."

"Thanks a bunch. Come on, Tomoe."

"You're never going to use honorifics again, are you?" I grumbled. This was a bit embarrassing.

"Why do you complain so much about that?"

"I don't know. It feels weird, I guess."

That conversation was interrupted by our arrival at the right room. Inside, Rin was taking a break, chatting with another medical ninja. She looked exhausted.

She smiled and stood when we entered. "Kakashi, Tomoe-kun!"

"Hey, Rin," Kakashi said. He pushed me forward. "This kid managed to get his cut infected. Sorry, but could you take a look at his hand?"

She scowled at me. "This is why I told you to come to the hospital right away! Come on, up you go." she patted the examination table. I climbed up and held out my hand. She looked at it for a bit, and frowned.

The other medical ninja who was on break peered over her shoulder. She had short brown hair and eyes, and wore a lab coat. "Who stitched this wound?" she asked.

"I did." I said. She glared at me and I shrank back.

"That was a foolish thing to do. You should never attempt medical treatment on yourself unless it was a complete emergency or you are yourself a medical ninja, and you must always check in with a medical ninja after you're returned. Didn't they teach you that at the Academy?"

"Taji-san, he's new to Konoha." Rin said in my defense. "He hasn't started training yet."

She was surprised. "Then how would you know how to stich up a wound?"

"It's . . . a long story."

"Hum, anyway, these are badly done." The woman, Taji I supposed, took my hand and prodded the stitches.

"Ow!"

"These are far too tight. They're restricting blood flow to the wound. No wonder it's infected. We have to redo the stitches first. Rin, I'll take care of this. You rest up."

"I can do it . . ."

"Nonsense, girl, you were out on a scouting mission and got to work here without any rest. You've been pushing yourself too hard, I know it's necessary right now, but at least enjoy your break. I'll take care of this girl."

Kakashi and I jumped. "Hum, I'm a boy." I pointed out. She blinked at me.

"Oh, are you? Could've fooled me. Right, let's get to it. This is gonna hurt, boy."

Rin watched anxiously as Taji got to work. She started by taking the old stitches out . . . which hurt like a goddamn son of a bitch, made worse by the fact that the area was painfully red and inflamed. Next, she cleaned it out with antiseptic. That was also painful, and since there hadn't been much healing and the cut was so deep, she had to redo the stitches. I'll let you imagine how that went down.

When it was over, I wanted to hit her. I was still rambling curses in English when she cut the last thread and went to get some ointment and bandages.

"Does mumbling gibberish really help?" Kakashi said.

"As a matter of fact, it does." I said through grinded teeth. It may be gibberish to these guys, but it made me feel a whole lot better.

Taji came back, rubbed some ointment on the wound, and wrapped it up. She turned to Kakashi. "This is ointment. Make sure he puts it on once a day and changes the bandages while he's at it, until the wound looks like it's healing properly."

"Why me?"

"You're his guardian, aren't you?"

"Not exactly . . ."

"Whatever, just make sure he does it." Taji pressed the container into his hands, and turned back to me. "Okay boy, you're good to go. Take it easy for a few days."

"Sure . . ." I climbed down from the table and stumbled a bit. My legs were trembling.

"I've got to get back to work. Rin, you've got another half-hour. Go get something to eat."

"I'll do that. Thank you for your help, Taji-san." she bowed formally. The woman left. Rin turned back to me. "I'm sorry about that. I should have healed you myself."

"It's no big deal. You need your chakra for people who might actually die." I waved my hand. "No sense in using it to heal a little cut."

She looked a bit surprised that I had seized on the reason why I hadn't been fully healed with medical ninjutsu; it isn't something you'd expect a kid to grasp, but to me it had made perfect sense from the beginning. I wasn't going to go out and fight, and I wasn't in horrible pain or about to die, so might as well let it heal on its own.

"You're very smart, aren't you, Tomoe-kun?" she patted my head. "I'm going to the cafeteria to get breakfast. Why don't you two come along?"

"Sure, I could go for some food." I said. Kakashi nodded.

The food wasn't all that bad, for a cafeteria. I had eggs, toast, and a glass of milk; finally, Western-style food. Rin and Kakashi chatted as they ate, but not once did I manage to catch a glimpse of his face.

We left the hospital after saying goodbye to Rin. Kakashi looked a bit worried about how tired she looked, but didn't say anything about it. As we walked back, I started to think about a training schedule. I needed to practice throwing kunai, maybe shuriken, too, and work on my chakra control. The idea of the leaf exercise and the crying fit it had brought on made me nauseous, so I would have to think of something else.

I suddenly remembered something, and stopped walking. Kakashi looked back.

"What's wrong?"

"My pack. I forgot it at the park the other day." I said, mortified. I'd rushed out of there so fast I hadn't thought about taking it. "I'll go see if it's still there! Go on without me!" I turned and ran.

"Don't get lost, Tomoe!"

I ignored him and ran. There was important stuff in there! There was my yukata, survival gear, the kunai Kakashi had given me . . . and the headband.

I made it in no time. I recognized it by the bench and the scarred tree that had served as a target for the two boys. It wasn't there.

"Oh god . . ." I said under my breath. "Did somebody steal it? Maybe one of them took it . . . Oh god, no!" If one of them had it, it meant I had to go _there_. I did not want to go there. I did not want to set one foot in that place. I mean, it was so _weird_. All of them were supposed to be dead. That was like visiting a ghost town. Besides, from what I'd heard about the Uchiha clan, they weren't exactly the friendliest chumps in the world.

But I _had_ to go. I had to get the headband back.

The Uchiha compound was surrounded by a wall. Kind of like a gated community. Only this gate was open, and I could see the houses inside, built in the traditional Japanese style with white walls and curved roofs. Heck, you've seen it, use your imagination.

I tip-toed closer. There was no one in sight, but I had no doubt they would know if I crossed the wall. I steeled myself and walked in. No one came out to accost me, so I continued along. Geez, this place was silent.

That was when I found an itsy-bitsy tiny flaw in this plan. I had no idea where to go. I stopped dead in the middle of the road.

"Smart, girl . . ." I mumbled, face-palming. "Real smart . . ."

I didn't have much choice but to continue along. I wandered through the compound. It had a bunch of walls lined with the white and red Uchiha fan, making it rather confusing to get around. There weren't houses everywhere. It was mostly just the walls. And that fan was _everywhere_.

I was lost.

There was no denying it. I was completely lost. I tried retracing my steps, but only ended up in places I hadn't been in before. The sky above was cloudy, and a chilly wind blew through the street, chasing dead leaves. I shivered.

Forget about the pack, I had to get out of here. I began walking again, berating myself for letting this happen. Couldn't I have waited a little bit? Really, was it that important? Stupid. If this was a job, I'd be dead. Or at least short a couple thousand dollars.

I looked up at the sky. The clouds were quickly darkening, threatening rain. I had to hurry, else I'd get caught in it. I walked faster, turned around a corner, and didn't get ten feet away when it started to pour. Lighting flashed. Ten seconds later, thunder rumbled.

I ran. The ground quickly became wet, so I slipped and fell, skinning my knee and landing on my re-stitched hand. It hurt. A lot. I got up, now soaking wet and miserable, and kept walking, hugging myself tightly to try and warm up. Smart idea this whole thing was. For an assassin, I'd sure let myself go. No way would I have done something this impulsive in my previous life.

I got to a street with large houses in it, but I was too miserable to notice much else. I took refuge under an awning, sitting with my knees drawn to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible. Hopefully they wouldn't notice and kick me out. It was better than trying to walk out there. The rain came down so hard I couldn't see five feet in front of my nose.

I wrung my shirt out best I could and wiped my face. At least I wasn't crying. Thank god for that.

I heard movement behind the door, and it rattled open. I looked over my shoulder.

Itachi Uchiha looked down at me like I was a ghost. A very wet, red-haired ghost huddling on his front porch. We locked eyes and stared at each other for a moment. I blinked, and stood up.

"Remember me? From yesterday at the park." I said, with a little wave. I kept my face deadly serious.

"Yes, Tomoe, I remember." He smiled slightly. Good, didn't look like I was in trouble.

"I left my pack at the park yesterday. Did you . . ."

"Yes, I took it with me. It might have been stolen if it had been left out there."

"Thanks. Can I have it back?"

"Of course. Why don't you come in?"

I looked down at myself. " . . . I'll have to pass. I'm soaked."

"Itachi, who are you talking to?"

I jumped as I heard a woman's voice. The person it belonged to came to the door. I recognized her; long black hair with bangs framing her face, black eyes, wearing a dark purple blouse and a red skirt under a yellow apron; Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi's mother. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and quickly looked from me to Itachi.

"Okaa-san, this is a friend of mine." he said by way of explanation.

"Hello, my name is Himura Tomoe." I bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you." I repressed a blush at my condition. This was no way to present oneself at somebody's home.

"I am Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi's mother. It's nice to meet you too, Tomoe-kun. What were you doing out in this rain?"

"I left my pack at the park yesterday. Itachi took it for me so it wouldn't get stolen. I came to get it back." My flush passed my defenses. "I, huh, got lost. I've never been here before, so . . ."

Mikoto took one good, long look at me, and put her hands on her hips. "Well, come on in. You'll catch your death, wet as you are."

"Oh, no, really, I'm fine. I just need my pack . . ." Her withering glare was enough to shut me up. Geez, she wasn't this scary in the anime. She ushered me inside, and I saw Itachi's amused smile as he shut the door. I took my shoes off in the entrance, not quite sure what else to do. I wasn't about to take one step in this nice, clean house drenched to the skin in mud and rainwater. Mikoto disappeared and came back with a towel.

She knelt in front of me and vigorously dried my hair, before wrapping it around me. "You're freezing! Wait a bit, I'll draw you a bath. Some of Itachi's old clothes should fit you." She turned to her son. "Itachi, take him inside."

"Yes, Okaa-san." The smile still played on his lips as he watched me. Mikoto disappeared down the hall.

"I bet you think this is funny, don't you?" I grumbled, drying off some more. My hair stuck up in all directions. I smoothed it down.

"Not at all. Come in." he beckoned me in.

"Sorry to intrude," I mumbled under my breath. I stepped on the tatami.

Itachi led me through the corridor, took a lift, and into a large room that bordered the garden, the sliding doors left open despite the rain. He sat at a low table, and I did the same. We stared at each other. Awkward much?

"How is your training going?" he asked.

"I've been working on a schedule." I said. "I won't get far randomly practicing stuff."

He nodded. "You said you were new to Konoha. Where are you from?"

"I was raised in a village next to the border with Kusagakure. It was destroyed in an attack, so I had to run. I ended up here, somehow." I rubbed the back of my head. Itachi didn't miss the fact that I'd spoken in the singular.

"What about your . . ."

"Tomoe-kun, the bath is ready." Mikoto entered, carrying a bundle of clothes. I stood and she handed them to me. "Leave your clothes in the laundry basket. I'll wash them for you."

"You don't have to . . ." I protested.

"Nonsense, what would your mother say if you went home to her completely soaked? Come along." I followed her, powerless to resist, to the bathroom. She left me, telling me to take my time, that she would have some hot tea waiting when I got out.

The bathroom was the standard fare, though a lot bigger than Kakashi's. The tub was impressive, and the soap smelled a lot nicer. I quickly washed and hopped in the water, sighing in delight at the warmth. Now this was nice. I lounged back, letting the water come up to my chin. I could stay here forever . . .

"Like hell!" I sat up abruptly, splashing water. "What the hell kind of situation is this? Why am I taking a bath at Uchiha Itachi's house? The hell? This is too weird!"

Out of all the things I had thought could happen to me in this world, this current situation was not one of them. I couldn't relax. I was warm enough, I had to get out. No sense in abusing their kindness. "But this is so nice . . ." I sighed and leaned back again. "Maybe a bit more . . ."

I was a slave to luxury.

I ended up spending twenty minutes in there, enjoying the warmth. I finally extracted myself from there and dried off. I was completely clean, dry, and warm. Now, to get dressed . . .

In Itachi's clothes.

I banged my head against the wall. Seriously, god, do you enjoy making me suffer? Do you not understand that this is embarrassing, having to wear other people's clothes all the time? Not to mention, _guys'_ clothes? Okay, I'd sort of brought it on myself by pretending to be a boy . . . god, I hoped they would give me money for clothes.

I calmed myself down with reason. We were both kids. Itachi was not yet the handsome, creepily strong man I knew him as; he was a five year old boy, and I was his (male) friend who had been caught in the rain. It was not strange that I had to borrow his clothes. It was just for a bit, until Mikoto washed mine. This was not weird. This was perfectly acceptable, and I shouldn't think about it anymore.

I nodded. Yeah, this made perfect sense. Now, get dressed.

The clothes consisted of a black shirt, the usual Uchiha fan on the back, and short black pants. I put them on, left my own musty smelling clothes in the laundry basket, and went out to face those two.

I went back to the room I had been in before (which was the living room, I guessed), and saw that Mikoto had prepared tea and snacks for us. She smiled. "How was the bath? Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you very much." I said shyly and sat down. Itachi was still smiling. Didn't that start to hurt, at some point?

She put a cup of tea in front of me, and gave me a rice cracker. "Itachi tells me you're from the border town that was attacked several weeks ago. Thank goodness you and your family made it out safely."

"Actually . . ." I hesitated. "Okaa-san raised me on her own. She died in the attack."

Mikoto paused. Itachi stopped smiling. She looked at me, suddenly realizing what she had said before sending me off to the bath.

_What would your mother say if you went home to her completely soaked?_

"I'm very sorry." she said softly. "How did you get here by yourself? It must have been hard on you."

"I travelled alone for about a bit more than a week, then I got picked up by Minato-san and his team. They took me back here."

"You know Namikaze-san?" She looked up quickly.

"Yeah. I'm staying with Baka . . . I mean, Kakashi-san right now. I'm enrolling at the Academy and getting my own apartment soon." I made sure to sound proud. I didn't want her thinking she'd gotten me all depressed. I then remembered the reason for me coming here. "Right, my pack! Itachi, do you have it?"

"Yes. I'll go get it."

He got up and quickly returned with the item that had caused me so much trouble. I took it with a quick thanks and rummaged through it. Was it still there? A smile spread on my face as I held it up. "Here it is! Thank god, it's still here!"

Itachi looked curiously. "A Konoha headband?" he said, tilting his head to the side. "Where did you get that?"

"Okaa-san gave it to me!" I said, so happy I could burst. It was stupid, but I didn't care.

"Was she a Konoha shinobi?" Mikoto asked, refilling Itachi's tea cup.

"Sort of. She ran off, apparently. She's in the bingo book."

"What's her name?" Itachi asked.

"Himura Tomoko."

Mikoto blanched. Her hand shook, and the cup dropped, spilling tea. Not seeming to notice, she turned to me with wide eyes, pure shock on her face.

"Himura . . . Tomoko, you say?" Her voice trembled.

I nodded, and took a bite of the rice cracker. "Yeah. She never told me she was a shinobi until right when she died."

Mikoto had to take a minute to compose herself. She noticed the mess on the table, and left hastily to get a rag. When she was done cleaning up, she said she was going to go wash my clothes, and promptly left. I wondered what that had been about. I guess my Tomoko's name was well known around here.

Now, I was left with Itachi, and it was rather awkward. The rain still pounded outside.

"Would you like to play a game?" he suddenly asked.

"Sure. Like what?"

"How about Shiritori?"

"Okay. I'll go first. Shiritori."

"Ryuu."

"Usagi."

"Kiku."

"Kusare."

"Rei.'

'Iwa.'

'Washi.'

'Shizuka.'

'Karai.'

'Itoshii.'

'Iruka.'

'Katon . . . dammit!'

"This is my win." Itachi said with a smile.

"Again!" I leaned forward and crossed my arms. I would get him this time!

We played Shiritori until Mikoto came back and found us arguing over whether or not you could use a word twice. She watched us with a slight smile, but her face was still pale. She waited until our argument reached an impasse (neither of us admitted defeat) and handed my clothes back to me.

"Thank you very much. I'll go change." I bowed my head and hurried to the bathroom. As I pulled on my clothes, I noticed that they were, well, clean. I hadn't worn anything properly washed in weeks, having used soap at Kakashi's house. They smelled really nice. I smiled to myself.

I went back to the living room and got my bag. It was still raining outside.

"I should go now. I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time."

"But it's still pouring! Won't you stay a little longer?"

"Thank you very much, but Kakashi-san will get worried if I stay out too late."

"I understand. Itachi, fetch an umbrella, will you?" I tried to protest, again, but she would have none of it. "You'll get soaked again if you don't have one."

While we were waiting, Mikoto gave me instructions on how to get out of the Uchiha compound. Itachi met us at the front door with the umbrella. It was a red oil-paper one with a black handle and the Uchiha crest on it. It was a bit heavy for me, but I took it gratefully.

"I'll be sure to return it." I said. That seemed to make Mikoto happy.

"Come back whenever you feel like it, Tomoe-kun. Itachi, say goodbye."

"Goodbye. We should train together again sometime."

"Yeah, sounds good. I'm off."

I stepped back out into the rain. It was coming down a bit lighter, so I could see marginally well. Down the street I walked, following Mikoto's instructions to get out of the Uchiha compound. Once I had crossed the gates, I sighed heavily and sped up. I couldn't wait to get back to Kakashi's place. This was a little too much excitement for one day.

* * *

Just one note: Shiritori is a Japanese word game, in which each person has to say a word starting with the last syllable of the word used by the previous person. The game ends when one person says a word ending with '-n' as there are no words that start with that in the language. The translations of the words used are, in order: dragon, rabbit, chrysanthemum, rotting, command, rock, eagle, quiet, spicy, beloved, dolphin, fire release (as in the nature transformation).

Interesting questions I can answer:

-About Tomoe's father, that will become apparent in due time. It is actually important, and astute readers may already have figured it out.

-An interesting thing to ponder would be Tomoe's way of referring to herself in Japanese, which I hadn't thought of before. I think she would use 'watashi', which is not only used by women, but also by men in a more formal, polite context. 'Boku' when used by girls is more tomboyish and casual, and since Tomoe was taught to speak by her mother (who undoubtedly had her use 'watashi'), it wouldn't have occurred to her to switch to appear more masculine.

-Will Tomoe's age and gender be revealed soon? I don't think so. I have plot points in mind, so I think she's going to stay right as she is for now. Romance-wise, it shouldn't matter, since she's very young and I can't develop anything like that anyway. I'm keeping my options open for the future as to what direction I want to go in. I have several possibilities in mind.

-I don't _think_ I'm making too many mistakes when it comes to Shisui, but he gets so little screentime not much is known about him; I'm flying blind. I thought he was about Itachi's age, who is five now.

-To clear something up, Tomoe has no relation to Danzo, despite their last names being similar. I checked carefully to make sure there was no one named 'Himura' in the show. It's an unfortunate coincidence.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, random thoughts, revelations from the god of anime? Leave a review!

Peace out.


	8. It was a mother's seal

I opened the door and snuck in, putting the umbrella down and sliding off my shoes. Don't be home, don't be home, don't be home . . .

"Tomoe!" Kakashi appeared from the hallway, glaring at me. "What were you doing for so long? Hum?" He caught sight of the umbrella with the Uchiha crest. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, so you _are_ home . . ." I mumbled under my breath. I raised my voice. "It's a long story."

"I've got time." He crossed his arms, glaring down at me. I really wished I would grow faster.

"Okay . . . to sum up, I met two Uchiha boys in the park the other day and accidentally left my pack there. I went to the Uchiha compound to retrieve it, got lost, got caught in the rain, somehow found the right house, where the guy's mother insisted I take a bath because I was soaked and would catch a cold, so I ended up staying a lot longer than I'd planned and lost at Shiritori." I frowned. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Who was this boy?"

"Uchiha Itachi," I said without thinking. He face-palmed.

"Tomoe, that was the clan leader's house. You can't just waltz into the Uchiha compound!"

"Oh . . ." I shrugged. "I guess I did it anyway! I'm, huh . . . going to have to go back."

"_Why?_"

"The umbrella. I have to return it."

Kakashi looked absolutely disgusted with me. He sighed and wearily turned back into the hallway. I followed him to his room. He sat on his bed, and buried his face in his hands. I hopped up next to him and patted his shoulder.

"There, there." I said.

"I swear, one day I'm going to get a grip on what goes through your head."

"Don't try, you'll only wear yourself out. What's for dinner?"

He made a disgusted noise and got up. He went to the kitchen and I heard him take stuff out of the cabinets and fridge. Seems like he was making food, but from the sounds he was also making he didn't seem too happy about it. I killed time by reading the book on chakra, and thought up a couple of ideas for training before Kakashi called me into the kitchen to eat. On the table was the exact same meal that we had before: rice, miso soup, grilled fish and a side of vegetables. I made no comment and sat down to eat, chanting 'Itadakimasu' before digging in. It tasted exactly the same as before.

"Kakashi?" I piped up.

"What is it?" He somehow ate without me seeing his face, again.

"Is this _all _you can cook?"

His chopsticks froze in the air. He reddened underneath his mask.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

" . . . What of it? You should be grateful I'm even cooking for you. This meal is balanced and tasty, there's nothing wrong with it."

"Except for variety . . ." I mumbled under my breath. He shot me a glare.

"Do you have a problem? Perhaps you'd like to make your own food?"

"Sir, no sir."

And that was how that conversation went. After dinner I treated my cut, cursing some more at the painfully inflamed area, but noting that there was no pus. I put some fresh bandages around it and climbed into bed with the book on chakra. Kakashi was working on his mission report at his desk. The only sounds in the room were the rustle of pages turning and the scratching of pen on paper. Outside it began to rain. I put my book down and pulled myself up over the headboard and onto the windowsill to take a look outside. I rested my head on my folded arms. The rain pattered the window, and it trembled with gusts of wind.

I felt the same feeling as I had had when living with Tomoko. That I wouldn't mind if this went on. A kind of peaceful, everyday life, without violence, something I'd discarded so long ago I'd forgotten how nice it could be. Living life on the edge, working dangerously and having my life constantly in jeopardy was fun, so much so that I yearned for it even in this small body. But the opposite, a peaceful everyday life, maybe, just maybe, that was also enjoyable. Maybe that was something I'd like to continue doing.

I sighed. This village was messing with my mind. I didn't want it to disappear, for some reason. It felt like a place where I could live. A place to call home.

What was I thinking? This wasn't like me at all. I had to get ahold of myself before I did something completely stupid.

I was nodding off, my eyelids flickering, my vision of the rain spattered window blurring. I felt a presence next to me and I was picked up and put in bed.

"Don't fall asleep at the window, baka."

I relaxed against the pillow. The blanket was drawn over me.

* * *

The next day Kakashi went out somewhere, and I decided to stay and practice chakra control. He made me promise not to go back to the Uchiha compound by myself, though the reason why never passed his lips, and left on some errand or other. I shrugged to myself. I would have gone, promise or no promise, but it was still raining.

I raided the fridge for breakfast, thinking I'd be able to cook, but my plans were quickly laid to waste when I realized I couldn't reach the stovetop. I grudgingly made more onigiri with last night's leftover rice.

I settled down on the floor, crossed my legs, and made the tiger handsign. To start with, I molded a small amount of chakra in my stomach. It was easier than last time, though the sensation remained odd. There were two things to master here: the amount of chakra, and the control of chakra. I decided to start with the control side. Since my body was still developing (and would be for a while), the amount of chakra I could produce was limited.

The first exercise for today was keeping the small amount of chakra concentrated. That was the first step, according to the book. They said to do that for a while, but I quickly got bored. This part was easy. My concentration was impeccable. I could keep my attention on this for hours if I needed, especially if I pretended chakra was poison.

On to the next step! When you feel like you have a good grasp on the mass of chakra, make it spin. Round and round, like a spiral, following the way that feels natural. It may help to picture it as a ball of fire or a flowing mass of water. Now this was a lot harder. Know how when you're trying to plug a USB key in, you never seem to get it in the right way no matter how many times you turn it over? That was how this felt. I got the rotation part, but neither direction seemed to click. I reversed it over and over, but neither felt 'natural.' Soon I lost my grip on the mass of chakra and had to mold it all over again. Rinse and repeat half a dozen times, and I got pretty frustrated.

"Ah! Enough!" I let myself fall back and spread my arms on the floor, staring at the ceiling. This was harder than I'd anticipated. I had to keep trying, though. I couldn't give up on something this easy.

I didn't bother to sit up or make a handsign. I molded chakra in my stomach and forced it to spin to the left, 'natural feeling' be damned. It was sluggish, like trying to move a stick through mud. Round and round, making it spin, fighting against the resistance, sweat broke out all over my body as I started to tremble. I grew nauseous. My head hurt. My injured hand throbbed.

I lay on the floor, biting my lip, spinning my chakra, until it felt like my head was splitting in half and my muscles nearly failed; I could barely breathe, spots grew in my vision, darkening the ceiling. I refused to stop. I would get this if I had to go through hell.

Rather predictably, I blacked out.

"Tomoe-kun! Tomoe-kun!" A hand shook me. I opened my eyes, seeing a blurry face with blue eyes and spiky blond hair.

"Hey, Minato-san . . ." I tried to lift my hand, but my arm felt numb. He slid his arm under my shoulders and lifted my up to a seated position.

"Tomoe-kun, what happened?"

"Not sure . . . I was working on chakra control, and things got really weird . . ." My tongue felt awfully thick. Minato's eyes widened.

"You can control chakra already?"

"Just a bit. I was trying to spin it, like it says in the book, but it wouldn't work."

He looked rather perplexed. My eyes scanned the room, noting it to be rather dark. Was it this late already? The light came on and another person knelt down next to me, smoothing her bright red hair behind her ear.

"Tomoe-kun? My name is Uzumaki Kushina."

Oh, yeah, I remembered. Naruto's mother. I smiled a bit. I didn't have the strength to be baffled or shocked by her sudden appearance. "Nice to meet'cha. I'm Tomoe."

"You were trying to spin your chakra, is that right?"

"Yeah, the book said to do it the way it felt most natural, but neither way worked, so I forced it."

She frowned. "Could you try it again? Just a little bit."

"Kushina, he can barely move." Minato protested. "Shouldn't this wait until later?"

"I want to confirm something. It's up to you, Tomoe-kun. Do you think you can do it?"

Sensation was returning to my limbs. I sat up on my own, flexed my fingers, and nodded. She nodded back with an encouraging smile. "Alright, then go on." Minato looked doubtful, but Kushina ignored him.

I made the tiger seal and focused. I molded a small amount of chakra, which came naturally, and tried to spin it. I was met with the same resistance as before, no matter which direction I made it go in. Arbitrarily picking one, I forced the chakra to move. It was terribly hard, and as I pushed it I got dizzy again. The room spun.

"Just a little bit more, Tomoe-kun. I want to check something." She laid me down on the floor and lifted my shirt. I felt like I was going to throw up. "You can stop now."

I let it go. She put her hand on my forehead. It felt nice and cool. "Get some rest, Tomoe-kun." My eyes flickered shut. The door opened and closed; the sound of footsteps came closer.

"Minato-sensei? Kushina-san? What's going on?" That was Kakashi's voice. There was a slight rustle of plastic, a soft impact, and running steps. I half-opened my eyes, and grinned up at Kakashi. He looked rather distraught.

"Hey, Kakashi, welcome home." I blinked the sweat out of my eyes. It looked like there was two of him. Kinda funny. I raised my arm straight up and waved. "I'm having an issue with my chakra here . . ."

"You can control chakra? When did that happen? Never mind that, are you alright?"

"Kakashi, he's fine." Minato said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked down grimly at me. "But somebody placed the Five Pronged Seal on him, so he can't control his chakra properly. The only person I could think of who would have done it would be Tomoko."

Tomoko? Why would she place a seal on me? I should have been able to remember it, if she had. Man, she was sneaky, getting me without me knowing about it. That's a ninja for you. Or maybe I just had lost the memory of the event. Wasn't that technique supposed to make the target black out?

Kushina slid one arm under my shoulders and another under my knees, lifted me up and put me in bed. She drew the cover over me. "Don't worry about it. Get some rest."

"This is problematic," said Minato. He got to his feet and leaned against the wall. "Tomoe-kun can't start training until the seal is removed."

"Jiraiya can do it, can't he?" said Kushina. "We can ask him, I'm sure he'll agree."

"The removal of the seal shouldn't be a problem. I'm worried about the reason behind it. I don't understand why Tomoko would seal her own son's chakra at such a young age. I knew her very well; she wasn't the type of woman to do this . . . any of this." He shook his head.

"She must have wanted to prevent him from becoming a shinobi," said Kushina. She smoothed my hair back. "If she wanted to protect her child . . . it would explain everything."

"That's a possibility. We can't know anything for sure. For now, we should concentrate on removing the seal. I'll go see Jiraiya tomorrow and see if he has some time to spare."

I was drifting off again. This was exhausting. A seal? Really, Tomoko? That was such a dumb idea. What was the point? If I went back to the village, it was only a matter of time before somebody noticed and undid it, so it really only had meaning if we never got caught. But in that case, I would never learn how to control chakra, so it would become moot. I couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. It was one thing to die tragically, but mess me up and die without explaining anything, too? Seriously? What a joke.

"In any case, Kakashi," I heard Minato's smile in his voice. "I see you've been taking good care of Tomoe-kun. He seems to have taken a liking to you."

"Not really. I'm just doing my duty."

There was a rustle of plastic. "Did you go shopping?" said Kushina. "That's rare for you."

" . . . he was complaining about the food."

No I wasn't, liar. I just thought that eating the same thing day after day was boring. You didn't need to go out of your way to buy new stuff, Bakashi. I doubt you could cook it properly anyway.

I felt a cool hand on my forehead. It smoothed my hair back. "Go to sleep, Tomoe-kun." Kushina said. And that's exactly what I did.

* * *

The next day Minato took me to see Jiraiya. We went to an inn in the district next to the Academy, the kind of traditional hotel with tatami mats, sliding doors . . . and that also happened to be right next to the hot springs. I made a face as we walked through the corridor.

"Tomoe-kun? What's wrong?" Minato asked when he saw my expression.

". . . Nothing. Nothing at all." Like he didn't know _exactly_ why Jiraiya had picked this inn. Wait, now that I thought about it, Minato had always had an air of innocence about him. Maybe he wasn't aware of his sensei's perverted ways. Food for thought, though not what I should be thinking right now.

Jiraiya was another character that scared me a little, like the Hokage. He _was_, despite appearances, very wise, and I was worried he might catch on that there was something off about me. I was terrible at acting like a child, because I wasn't used to it and I didn't like it. It was disgraceful. I refused to lower myself to acting dumbly, impulsively, and childishly, at least not on purpose. I was a top assassin, and I had my pride. Simply putting myself at Konoha's mercy had been a giant blow to my ego.

The problem was that by not acting my age, smart people would pick up that I wasn't . . . well, _normal_. It could be as simple as thinking that I was a genius (which, come on, I _was_), or the more suspicious bunch having doubts that I was who I said I was; maybe under a genjutsu, or a transformation jutsu, or something. No one could guess the truth, but the unwanted attention could pose a potential problem.

Hence, meeting wise people was nerve wracking. I was actually glad I'd met Bakashi when he was still young, and assumed I was just bratty and liked running my mouth. I was a bit nervous around Minato. The trick with the Flying Thunder God Jutsu seal couldn't have been only to keep me from running away. It wouldn't have been necessary if he really thought I was just an ordinary kid. But he was hard to read, so I was better off keeping my mouth shut around him.

"Tomoe-kun?" My thoughts were interrupted by Minato's curious stare. I realized I must have zoned off. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry, it's nothing," I said hastily.

"Are you still feeling bad because of yesterday?"

"Ah . . . maybe a little."

He nodded, and patted my head. "I'm sure Jiraiya will make you all better, so don't worry, alright?" His hand was very large, and very warm. When he smiled it was like the room was suddenly brighter.

Minato stopped in front of a sliding door and knocked. There was no response, but he opened it anyway and strolled in. I tiptoed in after him. The room was large and darkened by thick curtains. There was a low table in the middle, furnished with a collection of brushes and ink sets. Stray sheets of paper were scattered over it, overflowing onto the floor and up to the border of a messy futon. A large lump stirred and something spiky and white poked over the covers.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato said brightly. He swept the curtains back and slid the window open. Light flooded into the author's cavern, drawing a groan from the lumpy covered thing in the corner.

Slowly, the lump straightened up and a very disheveled geezer with spiky white hair and red lines under his eyes blinked in the sun. He yawned and scratched his chest.

"Minato, do you know what time it is? What are you waking me up for?" He yawned again.

"It's nearly noon. Sleeping in too late is bad for your health." Minato smiled brightly and sat, crossing his legs, next to the window.

"Oh, is that so . . . So, what's up? Did you need something, or did you come here just for the pleasure of my company?"

"Yes, I need to ask a favor. Tomoe-kun," he ushered me over. I'd been frozen in place near the entrance, not sure what to do. I went to Minato and stood, eyes down and arms crossed behind my back. I was wearing the clothes Kakashi had given me, so I looked even smaller than usual. Heck, even though Minato was sitting I was barely taller than him. Pissed me off . . . hurry up and grow, stupid body.

"I'm Himura Tomoe. It's nice to meet you." I said automatically. I felt Jiraiya's eyes on me as Minato explained my situation, getting sharper as the story went on. Finally, he was told about the seal and nodded to himself.

"I see . . . yes, yes, this makes sense." he mumbled under his breath. "That's what she would do, alright. That Tomoko-chan, always so reckless . . ." He raised his voice, addressing Minato. "Sorry, but could you leave us alone for a little bit?"

Both of us were surprised, and we shared a clueless look. I nodded to him and quickly grinned, telling him that I was alright with it. Minato stood. "That's fine. I'll come back to get him in half an hour. Will that be enough?"

"Yeah, thanks, Minato. I'll swing by to say hi to Kushina later."

Minato left and we were left staring at each other. Jiraiya sat on his futon, wearing his disheveled sleeping clothes and with his hair sticking up in all directions. It would have looked comical if his eyes hadn't been so serious.

"Alright, we need to have a little talk," his eyes glinted. "_Ojou-chan_."

A thrill went through me. He knew I was a girl. "How did you . . ."

"I knew your mother."

"Yeah, well, so did half the village, judging the reactions I've been getting."

He laughed. "Yes, she was well known around the village. But, I knew her better than most, if I do say so myself."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Jiraiya went back to serious mode. "We'd worked together in the past, enough times that I got to know her well. She had a fondness for dango, as I recall." He shook his head. "To make a long story short, Tomoko-chan came to me when she learned she was with child. She wanted to leave, and needed someone to help her out. It isn't so easy for a shinobi to slip away unnoticed, and even harder to stay undercover. Tomoko-chan was strong, but she wasn't _that_ strong."

He crossed his arms and nodded to himself. He shot me another sharp look, and I responded in kind. He resumed his story.

"I decided to help her out. I got her out of Konoha and helped her hide in a neighboring village until you were born. I saw you once, when you were tiny and pink, and sleeping like a . . . well, like a baby. After that, I got you two to a safe house until I could arrange to move you to a more permanent location, away from Konoha. I shouldn't have sent you to the border with Kusagakure, but I didn't think the war would get this bad. I'm sorry about your mother." He sighed and looked off into the distance.

My mind whirled. This was too much of an info dump to handle all at once. "So, you were the one who got us . . . you . . . _why_?" This didn't make sense. Why would Jiraiya, of all people . . . "Why would you risk so much to help her? I'm pretty sure helping a shinobi defect is a serious crime. You could've been imprisoned if they'd caught you. Wait, does this village have the death penalty?" I frowned. "Nah, it probably wouldn't be _that _serious a crime . . . well, maybe . . . Ah, what am I thinking of? I don't get it!" I vigorously rubbed my head.

His eyes turned back to me, intense once more. A smile tugged at his lips. "You're sharper than you should be at your age. Well, not it's a surprise, all things considering."

"What the _hell_ does that mean?" I stomped my foot. "Why did you help her? Answer me!"

"Did . . ." He hesitated. "Did Tomoko-chan mention anything about your father?"

"No, never. _Why_ is that relevant?" I snapped.

He shook his head. "Never mind. You're still a little young to know all the details. Tomoko-chan had her reasons for wanting to keep you away from Konoha. I didn't think she'd go so far as to place a seal on you, though."

"I get that she didn't want me to become a shinobi. That's obvious. What I don't get is why. Why did she leave? Why did she seal my chakra? You know, don't you? Since you helped her, you must know everything."

He shrugged and scratched the back of his head. I was close to having a temper tantrum, and forced myself to relax. Nothing good would come of me giving into my childish urges. I had to keep a clear head. If he wasn't going to answer, he wasn't going to answer. This wasn't why I came here today. That stuff could wait, what I needed know was . . . "Are to going to undo the seal? Or would that be a conflict of interest? Since you helped her out, do you also want to keep me from becoming a shinobi?"

"That's a good question. I'd like to respect Tomoko-chan's wishes, but in the end, it's your choice. If you want to become a shinobi, I don't have the right to stop you. Your life is your own."

"Damn right, it is." Like hell I was going to meekly sit there and accept this. My plans for power were riding on this! I was going to regain all of my strength, my skill, and more besides. I went up and stood eye level with him. "Undo it. I'm becoming a ninja, no matter what."

We stared off for a moment before his eyes crinkled and he laughed. I was caught by surprise and stumbled back. "That's a good look you've got on your face, Ojou-chan. Answer one thing before we do this."

"Uh, yeah sure."

"Why are you pretending to be a boy?"

I scratched my head at that. "Well . . . I thought it would be safer while I traveled, and it kinda stuck. I'd be awkward if I revealed it now. Oh, I'm also pretending to be six, not four."

He gave me a quizzical look before bursting out laughing. "Alright, I'll play along. You'll be found out eventually, and that'll sure be interesting. Let's get started."

Jiraiya stood up and stretched. "Alright, lift up your shirt and mold some chakra. I need to see the seal to know where to aim."

I did as I was told, and was gripped by the familiar dizziness and nausea. Jiraiya held up his hand, each finger glowing with a different blue kanji: metal, wood, water, fire, earth. It came to me suddenly, a thought I hadn't considered before. That this was probably going to hurt. Faster than I could react he jammed his hand into my stomach.

"Five Pronged Seal Release!"

I flew back and hit the wall. Yeah, it hurt. But that may have been the wall connecting with my back. That also might have been what made me pass out. Heck if I knew. At least I could start seriously training now.

* * *

Notes:

-Ojou-chan means something along the lines of 'little lady,' or 'little miss.'

-For the seal and its corresponding release, I used the english TV version because it sounded better. The direct translation was a bit awkward, and I didn't want to use the original Japanese. For techniques, I'll probably stick to this version, unless it hasn't been officially translated yet, in which case I'll use my best judgement. The reason for this is that I'll eventually want to make up my own, and my skills in Japanese are not good enough that I'm comfortable naming techniques.

Questions I want to answer:

-How long will this story be? I have no idea. I'll see how it goes. I've got a lot of ideas, so hopefully we can make this ride last a while.

-Will I be dropping it? Obviously, I have to plans to stop anytime soon. As long as I have inspiration and time to write, I'll keep going. On that point, I would like to mention that my updates may not come as fast as before. I'm a college student, studying physics, and a new semester has started. That means the time I have to write is going to shrink, especially when midterms roll around. I've also got several other projects on the side (one fanfiction, two original stories). That being said, I'm really excited about this one, and I want to keep it going. I'll do my best to update regularly.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, random thoughts, cookies&cream? Leave a review!

Peace out.


	9. It was a game of make-believe

It was a nice day.

Really, you couldn't ask for better weather. Blue skies scattered with puffy white clouds like sheep strolling lazily across the horizon, a slight breeze, and sunshine warming the air. All in all, a perfect day. If I was a cat it would have been the ideal weather for me to bask on the front porch and soak in the sun rays. For me, it was perfect for another reason.

Bakashi was out on a mission.

You see, he was serious when he said he didn't want me going back to the Uchiha compound alone. For the past several days, he'd been keeping an eye on me and making sure I didn't go. At this point, I wanted to go less because I really felt the urge to be polite and return the umbrella, than because I wanted to annoy him. I wasn't going to let a teenager dictate my every action. Now that he wasn't here, I could do what I wanted.

Ergo, it was a nice day. I made my way through the calm village humming a tune, twirling the umbrella on my shoulder. I wore my original clothes, those Tomoko had packed for me, with a set of keys in my pocket and little else. I was just on a little errand, after all. I enjoyed the walk, feeling like everything was going perfectly.

I breathed in the spring air. As I passed a park, I saw that the cherry blossoms would be in bloom soon, no doubt to coincide with the entrance of the new class at the Academy. I would be joining them. My chakra was unsealed, and my training was progressing. I had succeeded in the chakra spinning exercise, with a little oft-handed advice from Bakashi, and was anxious to try a jutsu for the first time. The transformation jutsu, basic and described in detail in my lesson book, was my first goal. I already had a specific image of what I wanted to transform into, and had been picturing it every night before I went to bed, carefully remembering every detail.

Only two weeks to the start of class.

I skipped a bit and arrived at the entrance of the Uchiha compound. It looked ominous, and though I knew I had a perfectly valid reason for being here, I still had to steel myself before taking a step forward.

"Hey, look who it is! Tomoe!" I heard a voice and looked ahead of me. Shisui was waving at me with a large grin on his face. His hair was messy, like he'd just rolled out of bed, and his clothes were the usual Uchiha fare, though stained with dirt here and there like he'd been running in the forest.

"Hello, Shisui." I said.

"You did come back! I knew you would come sooner or later for my guidance." He nodded. "Yep, I knew it."

I planted the umbrella in front of me and smiled. "Sorry, but I just came to give this back to Itachi."

He looked at it in confusion, then understanding dawned on his face, quickly followed by mock disbelief. "What? You went to see him before me? I'm crushed."

I played along and patted his arm. "Don't mind it. All I got out of it was a loss at Shiritori." I wrinkled my nose.

He smiled broadly, eyes twinkling. "Then let's train together today!"

I didn't have anything against that. Wasn't Shisui supposed to be a genius, like Itachi? He didn't feel too much like one (if anything, he reminded me of a more cheerful Naruto), but there still might be something to learn there. I answered with a small smile. "Can you do a transformation jutsu?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah, of course!"

"Then we have a deal, Shisui-sempai."

He looked extremely pleased at that, puffing out his chest proudly. I hauled the umbrella back on my shoulder.

"I just need to drop this thing off at Itachi's, and give my thanks to Mikoto-san while I'm at it."

"I'll take you there. His house is a bit hard to find."

We walked side by side, proceeding along the path to Itachi's house. Despite my good memory, if Shisui hadn't been there I might've gotten lost again. The Uchiha compound was a true maze.

"How're you liking the village?" he asked.

"It's nice. I can't wait for the cherry blossoms to bloom."

"You like flowers?" He grinned mischievously. "That's kinda girly, Tomoe."

"There is nothing 'girly' about beauty." I replied with a sniff. _'Kids . . .'_ I thought, with a mental eye roll. "I've never seen them before, so I was looking forward to it. Besides, when they bloom classes will start. That's enough of a reason for me."

He crossed his arms behind his head and looked up at the sky, his face turning a bit pensive. Suddenly he got an idea (it was written plainly on his face) and turned to me. "How about we go see 'em? Since you're new and all, you don't know the best viewing spots, right?" I was a bit surprised that he'd be so eager to do something together. He looked genuinely excited at the thought. Since I didn't think it was about _hanami_, I could only deduce that he was being nice to me. I didn't mind. If he wanted to be friends, I had no objections to that. I'd play along.

"Let's do it, then." I said. "I'll look forward to it."

The happy grin and slight flush on his face were reward enough. This was one completely readable kid. Made you wonder what happened during his life. Well, for now, he wore his heart on his sleeve.

We arrived at Itachi's house. It was more of a mansion. Made me embarrassed I'd had the guts to take refuge from the rain by loitering _here_ of all places. But anyway, I had a legitimate reason today, so I rang the doorbell. It took a couple of minutes, but somebody eventually answered the door.

"Hey, Itachi!" Shisui pretty much let himself in, kicking off his shoes and strolling on the tatami mat. From Itachi's unconcerned expression, this was a regular occurrence.

"Hello, Shisui, Tomoe." He nodded to me. I nodded back.

"Hello, Itachi. I came to give this back." I twirled the umbrella. "Is your mother around? I'd like to thank her."

He hesitated. "Okaa-san isn't feeling well right now. I'll tell her you came by."

"That'd be grea . . ."

"What," Shisui called from the corridor. "Is Mikoto-san sick because of the baby?"

'_Baby?'_ The thought struck me like lightning. I made a quick mental calculation. We were currently at the end of February. Sasuke was born in July. That would make Mikoto three months pregnant, and Kushina two (roughly speaking). It seemed like I was closer to a lot of important events than I had thought. Kannabi bridge had happened, Minato wasn't Hokage yet, meaning the next event would have to be . . .

"Tomoe?" Itachi called out to me.

"Sorry?" I snapped back to myself, and blinked rapidly. He gave me a strange look. "Oh, yes. You're going to have a sibling soon? Congratulations."

He gave me the first genuinely happy smile I had seen him wear so far. "Thank you."

A tint of red rose to my cheeks. "Anyway," I shoved the umbrella in his direction. "Thanks. If it hadn't been for it I would have gotten sick, for sure."

He took it. "Do you want to come in?" he asked.

"Itachi, we're going to train now." Shisui said. He crossed his arms behind his head. "Doing it here'll be booo-ring." By his serious, half-closed eyes contrasting with his playful tone, I got his double meaning, and no doubt so did Itachi. We shouldn't bother Mikoto-san.

"See ya later, 'Tachi." Shisui clapped him on the shoulder and hopped over the little ledge of the entryway. He slipped his shoes back on. "Let's go, Tomoe. I know a training ground we can use."

I hesitated. I didn't want to be rude, so . . . "Itachi, you wanna come with?" I asked, turning to him. His eyes widened slightly, and shifted to the side.

"Itachi, why don't you go?" Footsteps padded over from the hallway and Mikoto appeared, looking a pale, with sweat on her forehead and a slightly wobbly step. Oh, so it was just morning sickness.

Itachi looked back at her with a worried frown. She chuckled and patted him on the head. "I'm perfectly fine, go out and play with your friend." She suddenly caught sight of me and I was momentarily worried when her face turned even paler. But she quickly recovered and moved towards me with a smile.

I remembered my manners. "Ah, um, thank you very much for your help last time. I wasn't wet at all when I got back."

"It was no trouble at all. I'm glad that Itachi has made a friend. Please, feel free to stop by whenever you want. You're always welcome here."

I smiled back, with the slight feeling that there was something off, here. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Her tone? Her expression? Her body language? "Thank you. I'll keep it in mind. Itachi, wanna come?" I turned back to him.

He still hesitated. God, that was annoying. Since Mikoto was fine, why was he still uncertain? I could tell he wanted to go. What kid would prefer staying indoors on such a nice day? Besides, it must be suffocating, staying with a sick person all the time. Not to mention, boring. Tch, he wasn't making any sense.

I stepped forward and tugged on his wrist. We were exactly the same height, so our eyes directly met . . . though he shifted his back to his mother, who nodded and gave him a little nudge.

"Go on. Your father will be home soon, and I'm feeling much better."

After a pause, he nodded. I let go of him as he sat down to put his shoes on. Shisui tapped his foot impatiently.

"Come on, 'Tachi, I wanna go play."

"You mean train." I quickly corrected him. I had _not_ signed up for tag and hide-and-seek.

"Sure," he shrugged.

'_Oy . . . take this seriously, kid.'_ I thought.

"I'll be heading out then." Itachi said, straightening up.

"Have a good time. Come back when you're done, you three. I'll have snacks waiting." Mikoto said as she waved us out.

"Don't push yourself . . ."

"Yes, yes, now let's go!" Shisui pushed him through the doorway. I stopped and bowed slightly in Mikoto's direction before hurrying to catch up with them. They were flat out running! Those little . . . Leave me behind, why don't you? I sprinted and was level with them in no time. I kept up best I could while we navigated the Uchiha compound, barely noticed as we passed the gate, went down the street, took a couple of turns, jumped over a small wall, and ended up in a forest. I was wheezing by now and when we came upon a large clearing bordering a lake, I collapsed to my knees, choking.

"What . . . huff . . . the freaking hell . . . huff, huff . . . Is _wrong_ with you people?" I tried to yell, but only ended up coughing.

Shisui crouched down in front of me, looking amused at my plight. I wanted to kick that smile in. "Sorry, sorry, we do this all the time. Didn't think it'd be that hard for you."

"Well . . . huff, huff, next time . . . think about it!"

He laughed and straightened up, arms crossed behind his head and grinning broadly. I was starting to not like that smile. I stood, legs trembling, but had to lean my hands on my knees. Itachi looked me over critically.

"You need to work on endurance," was his straight-faced comment. _'No, gee, ya _think_?'_ I thought, glaring at the two of them.

Shisui clapped his hands. "Let's start! Tomoe, you wanted to work on chakra control, right?"

"Yes, if you would be so kind." I said sarcastically. "I want to learn the transformation jutsu. If it's not too much trouble, Shisui-_sama_."

He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. I really _was_ going to punch him one of these days.

"Let's get started!"

And that's what we did. Itachi didn't let Shisui teach me the transformation jutsu until I had proven that I could control chakra. I did so by making a rock stick to my hand. It fell after five seconds, but case in point. That appeared to satisfy him. Shisui explained the jutsu to me, although the explanation I got in the book was a heck of a lot clearer, so he wasn't much use.

"Give it a try. Transform into me." Shisui said.

I made a handsign and concentrated. I pictured Shisui, his shaggy hair and slanted eyes, slightly protruding nose, his black clothes with the Uchiha crest on the back. I kept the mental image firmly in my mind, and focused my chakra. There was a puff of smoke and I was temporarily blinded, before it dissipated and I looked down at myself. Yes, I definitely wasn't me anymore.

"How is it?" I asked them. This was harder than I thought.

Itachi looked me over. "For your first time, not bad at all. But there are a few discrepancies."

"How so?" I looked myself over.

"You're missing an eye, the height is too tall, and you look . . ." he frowned. "Older?"

'_Not good,'_ I quickly released the jutsu. The most prominent image I had of Shisui was of his older self. It had bled through. This could be dangerous. Imagine that, accidentally turning into Akatsuki-Itachi? Or Shisui, with his eyes gouged out and bleeding? The impression I had of them was of their older selves. Hum, so who could I turn into, right now? Bakashi was out, it would feel awkward to turn into Minato, no _way_ was I turning into Jiraiya, the Sandaime Hokage would be a bit rude, so . . .

"Is it okay if I turn into someone else I know?" I asked.

"Who do you have in mind?" said Itachi.

"Nohara Rin."

He nodded. "I know who she is. Go ahead."

This was much easier. I had a good picture of her, and no future anime-related elements to get in my way. I molded some chakra, concentrated as much as I could, cutting everything else from my mind, and transformed.

I could immediately tell I was older. I looked down at the two boys. "So?" I said.

Itachi looked carefully for a bit. Shisui stared blankly, a bit disgruntled at having been shut out (I guessed he didn't know Rin), and I concentrated on keeping the transformation on. What little chakra I had was quickly getting depleted, but I stuck with it.

Finally, Itachi nodded. "I don't see anything too obviously wrong. Well done."

I flushed, whether at his smile or his compliment I didn't know. Shisui glanced at me and chuckled.

"What?" I said.

"Oh, nothing. Say, wanna spar?" He jumped up.

I undid the jutsu and gave him a blank look, eyebrow raised, which was much easier to do in my own body. "Come again?"

"Come on, you know, a friendly match. We don't have to use taijutsu . . ."

"Good, because I don't know any,"

" . . . but we can wrestle, or something. What 'ja think?"

Itachi gave him an annoyed look, I think because it was kind of a dick move. He was going to win, and he damn well knew it. The excited grin gave him away. Now, I could've said no. I could've taken the high road. But, I kind of wanted to do it.

The rational reason was that I should get used to moving my body in such a way, or the taijutsu lessons were going to be painful. The non-rational one, was that I wanted to hit him.

However, I was sure to lose. It would be a severe blow to my ego. What to do, what to do . . .

I didn't have much time to think about it. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I tackled him. He was so surprised I had him pinned in a jiffy.

It really didn't last long. Shit, he was strong for a five year old. He grabbed my wrists and pushed back. It took all my strength just to keep him from throwing me off. He grinned.

"Hey, you're stronger than you look."

"And you're weaker than you look, Shisui-sempai."

In a corner of my field of vision, I saw Itachi face-palm.

Shisui and I wrestled. He quickly got me on the ground, but I kicked him in the shin until his grip loosened and tried to roll him over. I was not successful. He was bigger, stronger, and better trained than I was, not to mention he wasn't kind enough to hold back. I bit him on the arm.

"No fair!"

"Haven't you heard the saying all's fair in love and war?" I mumbled through my clenched teeth.

"How does this count as war?" he complained. "That hurts!"

We struggled for a while longer, rolling in the grass and dirt, trying to make the other give in. I got on top a couple of times, though not for very long. Damn this kid was strong! The only thought on my mind was _'pummel this brat.'_

I got my leg up under his body and gained enough leverage to throw him to the side. Sadly, he was quick. He was on me like _snap_. I barely had enough time to get up on my knees. Our hands locked together. We each pushed against the other. I glared, but he seemed to be having fun.

Suddenly I released the pressure on my left hand, sending him forward, destabilized. I twisted and jammed my shoulder into his chest, pushing against the ground with my foot. That proved to be a mistake. You see, we'd moved around quite a lot during our spirited match. So much so that we forgot were we were.

My last moved sent us tumbling straight into the lake.

I emerged, gasping, soaked to the bone, and hauled myself up on the shore. Shisui was quick to follow. He had a wet leaf on his forehead. I glared at him like, _'this is all your fault.'_

Itachi ran to us. He surveyed us critically as we sat, dripping water on the dirt and turning it into mud. Suddenly, he broke into a smile and laughed, slightly, not very exuberantly, but it still came as a shock to me.

"Have you cooled down, Shisui, Tomoe?"

Shisui laughed as well, but a lot more freely and a great deal louder. They seemed to be having a good time. I picked at my wet, uncomfortable clothes. And I'd just washed these, too . . . I gave them the evil eye, which only made them laugh harder.

"Tomoe, you have a twig in your hair." said Itachi through his chuckles.

"Hah? Where?"

"Hold still." He reached over and plucked a twig from my hair. I flushed.

"Thanks." I said shortly.

"That was fun!" Shisui said, throwing his arm around my shoulder. "Let's do it again!"

"Hey, get off! You're wet!"

"So are you," Itachi pointed out. Damn kid was still laughing at me.

I glared at him. Then I got an idea. I extracted myself from Shisui's grasp and took a step to the water's edge. I beckoned him over. He looked a bit puzzled, but came.

I knocked him into the lake. The pure shock on his face alone as he fell with a great splash made it worth it. He immerged, water streaming from his face, and blinked slowly.

Shisui laughed so hard he fell to his knees. A second later I felt a teensy bit guilty, so I extended my hand to Itachi. With a blank face he grabbed it and pulled me in.

I went under for the second time. I kicked up and glared at him from across the mirror-like surface of the water. He smiled.

"I believe this makes us even."

I really couldn't say anything to that. Shisui was now holding his stomach and rolling on the ground, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. We climbed out and tried to wring out our clothing. Shisui's little rolling around trick had gotten him quite muddy, but also quite dry. The sun was warm enough, as it was now at its peak, that we would be dry in no time.

"So much for training . . ." I mumbled to myself. "Oy, Shisui, breathe." I said, louder. That boy's face was completely red. He lay on the ground taking short breaths until he had calmed down enough to stand. He still chuckled as he looked at us, but at least he wasn't imitating a hyena anymore.

"That was great!" he gasped. "We should do this more often! Hey, Tomoe, are you free tomorrow? Ah, of course you are. What could you have to do that's more important?"

"Hey!" I protested. "I have things to do!"

"Like what?"

"Well . . . I have to study." I said quickly, picking the first thing that came into my head. "I have a hard time reading kanji."

"Oh, that can wait." he scoffed. He threw his arm around my shoulders again.

"Stop that, you're getting mud all over me!"

"It's fine, fine! You worry too much, Tomoe. Relax, relax!" He poked my cheek. "I'm getting hungry. Let's go get those snacks at 'Tachi's house!"

"Shisui," Itachi said, shaking his head slightly.

"I know, I know, Mikoto-san isn't feeling well. Wouldn't it be a waste not to eat the snacks she's prepared?"

"He has a point," I mumbled.

"See? Tomoe agrees!"

"Hey, I didn't say that, I just said . . ."

"What'ja say, 'Tachi? We won't be any trouble, right, Tomoe?"

"Why are you asking me? I think I want to go ho . . ." He gave me a jostle.

"So?" He looked expectantly at Itachi.

After a moment's consideration, he sighed and nodded. "Only for a little bit."

"Great!"

And that's how we ended up back at Itachi's house. Out clothes dried on the way, but we were still covered in mud, grass, and grime. When we arrived, Mikoto, who came to greet us, raised an eyebrow.

"Boys . . ." she sighed. "I'll prepare a bath."

"Oh, no, you don't have to," I said hastily. "I'm going home now, so . . ." Her stern glance made me clam up. I was starting to get deja-vu. At least she was looking much, much better now.

Shisui clapped me on the shoulder. "Nice try." he said.

"Oh, be quiet."

We took turns in the bathroom, which was a relief to me. I was first, being a guest, and once again had to borrow Itachi's clothes. It felt less awkward this time, so I suppose I was getting used to the whole thing. Just for once, I would like to come to this house and not be dirty enough to warrant a bath and wearing Itachi's clothes.

The other two were really quick, so we were soon in the living room, with snacks and tea. We played some games, including Shiritori, in which I failed to beat Itachi yet again. He seemed to find that amusing. After a while, he pulled out a shogi board and taught me how to play. For the first time I understood how smart this guy was. I'd been very good at chess in my previous life, yet he had me whipped almost immediately. I called for a rematch. He obliged and I lost. Shisui, getting bored of watching, asked to play. He also beat me.

At one point I saw Mikoto watching us from beyond the screen door. She seemed to be whispering to someone, and indeed there was a shadow behind the door. Then suddenly it opened and a man strode it.

I recognized him immediately. This was Uchiha Fugaku, Itachi's father, a stern looking man with black hair and creases under his eyes. He was wearing the Konoha flak jacket, and his black shirt had the symbol of the Konoha Military Police Force on the left shoulder, the Uchiha fan inside a shuriken.

"Otou-sama," Itachi said, rising. "Welcome home."

His father nodded to him. I wasn't sure what to do while they exchanged greetings, so I stayed kneeling in front of the shogi board. Suddenly, Fugaku's eyes turned to me. Judging by the way he was looking at me, and how anxious Mikoto looked in the background, he knew exactly who I was. I would have to play this carefully.

"My name is Uchiha Fugaku." he addressed me. "I understand you are a friend of my son's?"

I calmed my nervous heart and got up smoothly, turning to the man with a neutral face. I bowed slightly.

"Good afternoon. My name is Himura Tomoe. I recently met Itachi-san and have been in his care since then. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Are you starting at the Academy next month?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have any prior training?"

"I do not. I have been learning with the help of Itachi and Shisui. They have been of great assistance."

He seemed to consider this. Finally, he nodded to himself. "You are always welcome here. I have one last question. May I know who your parents are?"

"I was raised by my mother, and never knew my father. Her name was Himura Tomoko. She passed away shortly before I arrived here."

That last bit of news got a reaction, slight as it was. He and Mikoto shared a look. He excused himself and his wife followed after him. I sat back down with a heavy sigh.

"What was that all about?" I said.

"It's kinda rare for us to bring friends home," said Shisui. He and Itachi avoided my look, concentrating on the shogi board. I noticed I was losing.

"Really? Why's that?" This was a bit curious.

"Well . . ." Shisui hesitated. "I don't really know."

"There aren't many opportunities for us to meet others outside of the clan." Itachi said suddenly, dropping a piece on the board with a sharp snap. "And within the clan, there are only a handful of children our own age."

"I see." That made sense. For now, it was as good an explanation as any.

"Let's continue the game," he said with a slight smile. "I believe it is your move, Tomoe."

Later that evening, as I was walking home, I considered the day's events. Meeting up with those boys, practicing a jutsu, playing, pushing each other into the lake, coming back to their place and eating snacks while playing games; it was what children did when they had friends. It wasn't something I'd done very often.

I had few memories of my previous childhood, but I could vaguely remember having friends, up to a certain point. After that, I was mostly alone. I'd never dwelled on that fact. As I got older, I got acquaintances, and developed some friendships. At that time, it just seemed like a convenient way of getting contacts and possible resources. In business, you would call it 'networking.' There was no deeper meaning to it, for me at least. I wasn't overly fond of people. I neither hated them, nor bore them any malice. They were useful as clients and as subjects for my poison, but I'd never felt the urge to have them by my side. Loneliness was an alien concept.

So now, I was suddenly 'friends' with Itachi and Shisui. But really, could you call this friendship? They appeared to think so, and it was certainly advantageous for me to keep this going. I didn't feel any particular attachment to them, besides maybe curiosity, a slight interest, maybe a bit of resentment for being stronger than me. I didn't dislike being around them, especially Itachi. He was intriguing, but that was the end of it.

I smiled, held my arms out to the side to catch the evening breeze, and started to hum. Beethoven, 'Lettre a Elise.' I walked on top of a fine, imaginary white line, each foot carefully place ahead of the other, twirling my fingers to the rhythm of the piano music only I could hear.

In the end, it was all just a game of make-believe.

* * *

Notes:

- 'sempai' is used to address someone with seniority in something. You might have heard it in anime used for a classmate. '-Sama' is a very respectful honorific, usually used for people much high in rank than oneself. Tomoe is being extremely ironic.

-Hanami, literally 'flower-viewing' is the practice of holding a party to look at the cherry blossoms.

-the song Tomoe hums at the end is the Bagatelle No.25, commonly known as 'Fur Elise' (For Elise), though I used the french variation of the name. It's a delightful, short piano piece that you've almost certainly heard before. If not, Youtube will come to your aid.

Sorry, this was a little late, wasn't it? But I managed to write it! The plot bunnies have been working overdrive; I already have a vague idea of the themes I want to use, the direction I want to go in, the pairing, the main plot, and the ending. My brain has been quite busy even if I wasn't writing. I'm still planning on winging it, but now I have a basic frame to work with.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, random thoughts, favorite classical music piece? Leave a review!

Peace out.


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